The children of Harry Potter: Rise of the Dark Order
by Professor McGonagal
Summary: This is the story of Albus Potter's journey through his years at Hogwarts. Along with his cousin Rose and best friend Oliver, Albus is determined to make the most of his years at school. But the Dark Order is rising again and the future looks dangerous. Book one in The children of Harry Potter: Dark Order series. Please read, enjoy, and review! :)
1. Prologue

THE CHILDREN OF HARRY POTTER: RISE OF THE DARK ORDER

PROLOGUE

Harry Potter, head of the Auror Office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, set down his quill with and air of relief, leant back and closed his eyes, glad that long, boring and complicated letter was complete. He was jerked back into life by a loud knocking on his cubicle door and saw his best friend Ron Weasely grinning at him from the doorway. "Hey Harry, are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, just let me get my stuff." Harry stood up, stretched and gasped his hand flying to his face as a sharp pain shot through his forehead.

"What?" Ron asked, sounding worried. His eyes fixed on Harry's hand and his mouth dropped open. "No, not- "

"Yeah" Harry replied, he looked Ron straight in the eyes seeing his fear in Ron's eyes.

For Harry Potter had just felt something he had not felt in 19 years, something that meant danger. A searing pain in his lighting shaped scar.


	2. Chapter 1 Diagon Alley and that night

CHAPTER 1- Diagon Alley and The Night Before

"Albus, wake up and get ready, we only have one day to get everything!"

Albus Potter woke to the sound of his mother's voice calling from the bottom of the stairs. For a moment he couldn't figure out why he felt so excited and nervous, then he remembered; he was going to Diagon Alley to get school books for the first time, but more importantly he was going to get a wand. Not to mention, the best news of all, he started his first year at Hogwarts tomorrow. He felt a thrill of excitement as he leapt out of bed and began to dress.

He arrived in the kitchen ten minutes later and was greeted by the sight of his little sister, Lily, totally absorbed in eating egg on toast and baked beans with the utmost enthusiasm. His parents talking in low voices as his mother cooked, obviously trying not to be overheard, but Albus could tell they were worried. He sat down as quietly as possible, making shushing gestures at Lily as she glanced up and opened her mouth to speak, and tried to listen to his parents' conversation.

"Are you sure it was your scar?" His mother asked.

"Ginny, I know it, and since then it's been burning, like it did when He was gaining power." His father sounded grim.

Albus was confused. What scar? Who was "He"? Questions buzzed around in his head as he strained to hear more.

"But Harry, it's not possible, it just can't be"

"I know, but it seems to be happening. McGonagall and Dumbledore's portrait can't think of any reason how or why, and Kingsley's still in Bulgaria and Percy hasn't replied yet so there's not a lot we can do."

"But you're head of a full office of Aurors, surely you can do something."

Not without the Ministers consent, and as Kingsley's away, that falls to Percy as he's Senior Undersecretary and as he hasn't replied to my letter I can't do anything not even contact Kinsley directly because Percy has Noctua."

They were interrupted by the arrival of an official looking owl. His father crossed the kitchen and untied the letter from its leg. The owl shook itself and took off as his father unfolded the letter glanced at it, then turned over the page and read the rest, his eyebrows knitting as he did so.

"What?" his mother murmured

"It's from McGonagall," his father said, "Booklists, and- His father leaned towards his wife speaking so quietly that Albus had to lean forward to hear- "Someone's stolen the Sword of Gryffindor. It's happening."

There was a silence. His parents stared at each other in horror. Albus and Lily- all thoughts of breakfast forgotten- were staring at their parents, confusion evident on both their faces as they tried to work out what was going on.

"Tension at breakfast I see," said an arrogant voice. Everyone jumped and turned to see the self-confident, handsome figure of the family's oldest child, James, "Always a good start to a day."

"Morning James," his father said, grinning as he sat down at the table. "I wondered when you'd be up, even Al beat you, by the way Albus, thanks for letting us know you'd got up."

"Sorry Dad I didn't want to interrupt."

Well, now we're all here I would like to remind everyone that we have a lot to get and not much time to get it all." Their mother said, as she dished breakfast on to everyone's plates and handing them round. "So it would be best if we left soon."

Ten minutes later, the Potters were in their car and on their way into London. Soon after, they were entering the wizarding pub, The Leaky Cauldron. The pub, which had been filled with chatter and laughter, fell silent the second they entered the building. Albus wondered what had happened and as he glanced around the pub he noticed that every eye in the whole place was fixed upon them. More specifically, every eye was on his father.

"Hey Harry! Ginny!" a familiar voice cut through the silence. Albus felt relieved, all the staring was making him nervous and he didn't even know _why_ people were staring. He led his family over to the source of the voice, listening to the whispers that followed them, surprised that it was mostly adults that were whispering.

"That's _Harry Potter_!"

"I know!"

"Oh my God!"

"Psst Sally! It's _him_!"

Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, and his cousins Rose and Hugo were sitting at a table by the bar, waiting for them. "Hey guys, you got the same reaction we did. Total quiet followed by whispering." Uncle Ron said, grinning. "Stuff like "That's Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friends, they helped him destroy-"

"Ron!" Aunt Hermione said sharply, glaring at her husband. "Wait until tonight!"

"Why? We have to tell them anyway."

"Yes, but not now!"

"Ok." Uncle Ron sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Tell us what?" Rose asked.

"Nothing." Uncle Ron said quickly.

"But you said-"

"Rose!" Aunt Hermione exclaimed angrily.

"Sor-ree." Rose muttered sarcastically.

"Are we ready to get the stuff?" His father asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Uncle Ron said, glancing at his still smouldering wife.

The families got up from the table and went out into the small, paved square that was the backyard to the Leaky Cauldron. Albus watched with growing excitement as his mother pulled out her wand and tapped the third brick from the left on the wall facing them. The bricks separated to reveal the long, twisting, brightly coloured cobblestoned street of Diagon Alley. His mother started down the street, hand in hand with Lily. Out of the corner of his eye, Albus saw James running his hand through his hair to make it seem more windswept. Smiling, he followed his mother into the street.

"Where to first, then?" Uncle Ron asked as they began to manoeuvre through the large crowd.

"Well, First to Gringotts, then Olivanders for Albus and Rose's wands, Madam Malkin's for their robes and Flourish and Blotts for their new books, then Potages Cauldron shop, Scribbulus Writing Equipment, then Slug & Jigglers Apothecary, and we want to get the kids an Owl for the letters to and from home, so the Magical Menagerie, too . It's mainly Albus and Rose's things we need to get all James needs are _The Standard Book of spells Grade 2_, and slightly longer robes." Ginny replied. "After that we'll go to _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_ for a while."

"Excellent I'm low on Skiving Snackboxes." James said. "Not," He added hastily, catching his mother's eye, "that I use them, they're just for trading to get help with homework from teachers- hand in the snackbox, show you're not going to start skiving, and get extra tuition."

Lily snorted.

The party set off down the street sometimes walking in single file to stay together as they headed towards Gringotts. After both sets of parents had filled their money bags, they headed to Olivanders Wand Shop. The original Olivander had died some time ago, but the owners had decided to keep the shops name in honour of the wand maker. It was now being run by old classmates of his father, aunt and uncle, the Patil twins Padma and Parvati. They greeted the two families and began to help Albus and Rose find wands. About 20 minutes later, they emerged with their purchases. Albus's was made of elm, twelve and three quarter inches, supple, with a dragon core. Rose's wand had a unicorn hair core, elven and a half inches, was pliant, and made of Redwood.

After they had visited Madam Malkin's, they headed to Flourish and Blotts with Uncle Ron leading the way. As they arrived at the shop, His uncle glanced in the windows and froze.

"What?" Aunt Hermione asked sounding annoyed.

"Maybe we should come back later."

"Why?"

"See for yourself."

"What? Oh Ron, grow a spine!"

Albus followed the direction of his Aunt's gaze, feeling puzzled, and what he saw did nothing to resolve the feeling. A tall thin man with a pale pointed face and hair so blond it was almost white, was standing with a small boy, seemingly about Albus's own age, who looked very like the man. Albus assumed they were father and son.

"What's the big deal?" James asked, "They're just a father and son shopping."

"Yeah but its _Malfoy_," Uncle Ron said sounding pained, he glanced at Harry his expression pleading, _Malfoy_, Harry!"

"What can he say?" Harry asked, "We saved his life twice."

"When?" Lily and Hugo chorused in unison.

"I'll tell you later." Albus couldn't help noticing how nervous his father sounded.

"Look Ron, you're being stupid, we've got no reason to avoid him, so let's go." Aunt Hermione seized her husband's arm and dragged him into the shop ignoring his dark mutterings. The others followed, wondering what might happen.

A bell rang as they entered, and heads turned automatically. A stunned silence filled the shop, followed almost immediately by yet more whispering. "Wait here," Ginny muttered. "Come on Hermione." The two women walked up to the counter and began to talk to the assistant.

"Maybe we should wait outside," Hugo said, "it's stuffy in here."

"Yeah, let's go." Harry replied. They turned to leave, but were stopped by a drawling voice, "Leaving, Potter? We haven't even spoken."

"Hello Malfoy," Harry said, and as he turned, Albus saw his hand slip casually into his pocket. "Haven't seen you around lately."

"Yes, I was _almost _starting to miss you. After seven years, the sight of your over large head and even bigger ego, starts to grow on you, you know. Oh wait- it doesn't, these past 19 years have been even better than I thought they would be. Obviously I have much better things to do with my time than talking to you and the_ Weasel,_ and as I am eager to get away from you as soon as possible I will be going now. Scorpius." Malfoy's son who had been glaring at them all from his father's elbow, followed him out of the shop and into the thick crowd.

"That, rude, deceitful, ungrateful-" Uncle Ron burst out angrily.

"Who?" Ginny said as she appeared behind him with Aunt Hermione, both of them clutching heavy stacks of books.

"Malfoy." Harry said shortly.

"Oh, well if we finish the shopping quickly we won't see him again." Aunt Hermione said. Let's get their potions stuff now, then get the writing utensils then we can get your owl and nip into _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_."

Forty-five minutes later the Weasley's and the Potters, laden with all their school supplies and accompanied by the Potters second and newest Owl, Epistula, entered _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes _and were greeted by George. After spending the remainder of their money, and taking full advantage of family discounts, the two families left Diagon Alley, and decided to go back to the Potters for dinner, as it was early nightfall.

Dinner was incredibly tasty, but Albus noticed that there was a fair amount nervousness amongst the adults. They acted normally enough, Uncle Ron making jokes, Aunt Hermione giving them study advice, his parents refilling glasses smiling and laughing. But occasionally they would glance at each other as though scared or worried.

After dinner, Albus saw his father glance at his mother aunt and uncle, all of whom nodded. "Kids," he said, "come and sit down in the living room; we need to tell you something."

After they had sat down, Harry began "Today in Diagon Alley, in both Flourish and Blotts and the Leaky Cauldron, we were stared at and whispered about. I saw that you noticed. By telling you this we don't want to alarm or scare you, but to put you on your guard. But before you hear what's happening now, you need to know some of the past."

Harry launched into a story so amazing and at times so dangerous that Albus was astounded and he found himself believing it was true. There was something about the way his father spoke his tone so matter of fact, and his aunt, uncle and mothers expressions were so serious, he felt you had to be unbelievably dim witted to think it was just a story. "After all," Albus thought "I don't think you'd say all these things about someone known the greatest dark wizard of all time, light heartedly."

"There you have it," Harry finished his voice hoarse from talking, "the true story that shocked the wizarding world and is still talked about today. However, we have some bad news. We have reason to believe that someone is gathering the ingredients to perform a piece of magic so dark in the form of a potion so terrible, that it is kept hidden from the vast majority of the Wizarding World, and can only be found in the most ancient of books about dark magical potions, the name of this potion is the Resurgo de Malum Potion. Which when translated into English from Latin means 'Resurrection of Evil".

"B-But" Lily stammered "that means-"

Harry nodded his face grim "Someone is trying to bring Lord Voldemort back to life."


	3. Chapter 2 The Journey to Hogwarts

CHAPTER 2- THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS

A horrified silence greeted these words, all of them realised just how much danger they would be in if the person who was attempting to bring Voldemort back to life actually succeeded. After a while Ginny spoke:

"We only told you this in case something happens either to us, or at Hogwarts, so that you would know exactly what you'd be up against, so you'd think before you acted or spoke." She glanced pointedly at James, "However we must ask you to promise not to repeat any of this, for your own and others' safety."

They promised, and talked for another half hour or so about different things like and what they were expecting to happen at Hogwarts this year. After a while, Aunt Hermione yawned "We should go it's getting late and there's a lot to do tomorrow."

After they left, Albus, James and Lily went up to bed. Albus lay down, visions of his father's story still flashing before his eyes, but nothing not even the fear that he felt when he thought of what could happen, and would happen, if the person plotting Voldemort's return from the dead eluded capture, could smother the anticipation he felt as he thought of where he was going tomorrow.

**THWACK! **

"OW!"

"Get up."

Albus opened his eyes and sat up, glaring in indignation at James who was holding a pillow and grinning down at him.

"Why did you hit me?"

"Mum told me to wake you."

"So you hit me with a pillow?!"

"Well, you looked so peaceful; I just had to spoil it."

"Wow, thanks."

"You're welcome."

Albus glanced at the clock beside his bed and frowned. "It's ten to eight, why do we have to get up now? We've got over 3 hours until the train leaves."

"Well, you do have to pack." Ginny said as she entered the room carrying a basket of ironed robes. "With all the- what's the word? – Excitement, last night you forgot to do it.

"Why does packing take 3 hours?"

"It doesn't, but it would be good to get there with about 15 minutes to spare, so we won't have to leave until 10. Breakfast will be ready in about 30 minutes, and you'll need time to dress and pack, then after breakfast we'll do a final check, then leave."

"Oh."

"Mum, I get to look after Epistula more than Al and Rose don't I? James asked suddenly.

"Well, she is for you to share, but because you're the oldest I suppose so. Why are you interested in responsibility all of a sudden?"

"No reason, I was just curious." James spoke a bit too quickly.

"Hmmmm." Ginny pursed her lips but let the matter drop. Instead, she said, "You'd better get up now Albus or we'll be late. James go and wake Lily please, and don't hit her with a pillow or anything else." She left the room. James followed her, obviously trying to figure out a new way to wake Lily.

Albus got up, dressed and was just wondering how James was planning to wake Lily when he heard a loud squeal.

"ARGH!"

"James!" Ginny yelled angrily from the kitchen.

"I didn't hit her with anything!"

"He poured a bottle of water on me!"

"I dropped it!"

"With the lid off and you just happened to be standing over me?! Yeah right!"

"Stop fighting both of you! James just go and finish your packing!" Harry yelled from their parent's bedroom.

"Ok" James grumbled. Albus heard a bedroom door shut, and then there was silence. Laughing quietly, he started to pack.

He was down to 5 items when he heard Lily calling "Al, breakfast!"

"Ok." He threw the last few things into his trunk at random and dragged his trunk downstairs.

When he entered the kitchen Ginny said "Now you're here Al, James has something to say to and Lily."

James turned around, having just been looking out the window. He was barefoot, Albus realised which was odd, because his shoes were under the table and unless he was mistaken, his socks were in his jacket pocket. James opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, Ginny said "James, put your hands in the air!"

He looked at her, puzzled, "Why?"

"So I can make sure you don't cross your fingers."

James scowled, and raised his hands but as he looked back at his siblings, Albus saw the glint of an idea in his eye.

"I'm sorry I woke you up so badly." James said. As he sat down, Albus wondered if anyone else noticed that while James's figures remained uncrossed under his mother's gaze his big to was firmly crossed over his longest toe on both of his feet .

At that moment Harry entered the room, Noctua perched on his shoulder, and a letter scrunched in his hand. He looked at James in confusion, and James lowered his hands and sat down smartly. Eyebrows raised sightly, Harry approached his wife. "Percy replied."

"What does he say?"

Harry glanced around and seeing that his children were all listening closely; he read the letter aloud.

"_Dear Harry,_

_I am sorry that I couldn't reply sooner. As much as I appreciated what you were saying, I really couldn't see what we could actually do. In order to start investigating properly, we would need to invade a lot of people's homes and they have the right to know why. If we told them the truth, it would get out and there would be uproar. Panic would spread like wildfire, and people would surely declare themselves loyal to Voldemort just to spare their families. So I contacted the minister via flu network and told him of your concerns as well as my own. He therefore has decided that your plan would go ahead but under the pretext of taking control of the black market."_

"But that's great news!" exclaimed Lily happily.

Harry shook his head and continued to read.

"_However the Minister would like to make a formal announcement about "taking control of the black market," in a press conference with the Daily Prophet and would like you to delay you investigations until he returns from Bulgaria in 3 weeks' time. I did ask if he would like me to make the announcement in order to speed things up and get on with preventing what may happen, but he said that as minister, it is his responsibility. He asked me to inform you that the second item has not been found, nor has its attachment. He said you would understand. Wish the kids good luck at Hogwarts for me._

_Love to the family,_

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Percy."_

"What's the "second item"?" asked Albus.

"Never you mind." Ginny replied. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try us." Lily said.

"No, it's not your concern." Harry said sharply. "Anyway, Al, James are you packed?"

"Yeah" they both said.

"Good, well Harry take the trunks and things to the car, Lily and Albus help me clean up and James put your shoes on, and then we'll be off." Ginny ordered.

The Potter's were soon pulling out of their driveway and setting out for Kings Cross Station. 55 minutes later, they were circling for a parking space. Not finding any, Harry drove into the underground car park and vanished one of the cars with his wand. Seeing Ginny's expression, Harry grinned, "You look like your mother, don't worry, I'll summon it back when we leave."

They got two trolleys and were soon standing in front of the barrier that led to Platform 9¾ "Ok I'll go first with Albus and James and his trunk, then you and Lily come with Albus's." Harry said.

"Sounds good." Ginny said.

Albus took the lead as he ran towards the seemingly solid brick wall. He closed his eyes and felt a gentle coolness pass through him as he "collided" with it, and when he opened his eyes he was standing on platform 9¾, amidst the loud chatter and bustle of people that covered every inch of the platform. Albus gasped as he saw something magnificent, there, standing tall above the crowd, covering them all with steam, the scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express. "Wow, this takes me back." Said a voice, making Albus jump. He turned, and saw his father and James standing behind him.

"You said the same thing when you dropped me off here for my first year." James said.

"I know, but every time I see the train, rushes of memories come flooding back. The time your Aunt, Uncle, Uncle Fred, Uncle George, and me all jinxed Draco Malfoy and his gang at the same time, causing them to come out in fungus covered boils, things like that."

"Really?" "I never knew that." Ginny said, as she and Lily came through the barrier.

"Yeah, it was one of the best journey's back to London." Harry said smiling at the memory. "Almost made up for the fact I had to go back to the Dursley's."

They all laughed, and began to cross the platform. As they reached the train, Albus felt someone tap him on the back. He turned and saw that it was Rose smiling at him, excitement plain on her face.

"Hi! Oh my God, I'm so excited I can't keep still!" she bounced around as she spoke, her brown hair swirling around behind her.

"Hello all!" Uncle Ron said laying a hand on Rose's shoulder as he came up behind her. "Blimey Harry this takes you back. Remember when we jinxed Malfoy, and the time we missed the train?" Good times."

"You missed the train?" James asked, "How did you get to school?"

"Flew." Uncle Ron said grinning.

"Huh?"

"Well, Grandad Weasely had a muggle car, a Ford Anglia, and he bewitched it to fly. In our second year, Harry and I couldn't get through the barrier, because of that house-elf we told you about, Dobby. So we flew the car to Hogwarts, only we hit the Whomping Willow so the car kicked us out, and now it runs wild in the forest."

"Wow!" There's a rumour of a loony car in the forest, but I never thought it was true." James was staring at his father and uncle with newfound respect.

"Now that we've established fact from fiction, Al, James and Rose should really get aboard now." Said Aunt Hermione who had been listening to the story with a frown on her face.

"She's never got over how "irresponsible" we once were." Harry said quietly.

"Have a wonderful term and be good." Aunt Hermione.

"Yes particularly you James." Ginny said flattening his hair.

"Mum don't! Anyway I am _always_ good!"

"Really? What about those 17 letters I got concerning your behaviour."

"They were complementing my personality!"

"Right."

After Rose James and Albus hugged all the grown-ups, Lily and Hugo they climbed aboard the train, dragging their trunks behind, them James in front. He stopped at a compartment and grinned through the glass. "Let's go in here." They followed him into the compartment, Albus shutting the door behind him. Inside there were 2 other boys. One was, tall and sporty looking, with brown hair and bright green eyes, the other blond, with blue eyes and square glasses; he looked younger than the brown haired boy, though they shared the same nose and build.

"This is my best friend Steve Jordan." James said as he sat down next to the brown haired boy indicating him. "His dad's a friend of Uncle George, we realised last year when we had to rewrite detention records for Waitson. The caretaker" he added at their blank looks. "You would've met him sooner, except he had to go to New Zealand for the whole holidays. Steve, this is my little brother and cousin, Albus and Rose, first year."

He grinned up at them, "Hi, well you might as well meet my little brother Oliver. He's starting first year too. Hopefully in Gryffindor, but he's smart, so we'll have to see."

"Hi." Oliver smiled as they sat down next to him. They smiled in response, just as the train jerked into life and began to pull away from the station. They waved out the window to their parents until the train rounded the bend and the platform disappeared from sight.

"So, are you looking forward to starting at Hogwarts?" Steve asked.

"Yeah should be great, I just need to avoid Slytherin and I'm all good." Albus laughed.

"Yes, but I need to do well in exams, to save family pride." Said Rose

Steve looked stunned.

"Exams? Exams? Are you sure she's related to you?" He turned to James incredulously.

"Well, Hermione Granger's her mum so there's a lot riding on first year tests for her." James replied.

Oliver looked puzzled "Hermione Granger? Why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, I remember reading a book at the start of the holidays about what happened 19 years ago. I can't remember the name, but that name was in it! She helped Harry Potter stop You Know Who!" Then she married a Ron Weasely. Wait," he said staring at Rose, "what's your surname?

"Weasely." Rose said knowing what was coming.

"So you're Ron Weasley's daughter! Oliver exclaimed "Which means you two must be Potters. He pointed at Albus and James. "You are aren't you?

"Yeah." James said grinning over at him.

"But your dad's famous!" Oliver's eyes were as round as galleons and just as shiny.

"Yeah I suppose so." Albus said.

"I told you he was smart." Steve said.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Oliver said turning to his brother, hurt in his eyes. "You must have known that your best friend is HARRY POTTER'S son."

"I did. But James said that his dad told him that he had to keep it quiet, so and I quote "he couldn't inflate his ego so it was bigger than it was already."

James laughed "I haven't been able to inflate it over _that _but I can't say the same for my Quidditch skills."

They all laughed. They heard the sound of wheels squeaking and the sound of a voice calling "Anything from the trolley! Anything from the trolley!"

"Great I'm starving." Steve said jumping up. He slid open the compartment door and stood waiting for the witch who pushed it to reach their compartment. "I'm thinking Bertie Botts Beans, Chocolate Frogs liquorice wands, fizzing whizzbees, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties and a few packets of Dribbles. Anything else?"

"Sugar Quills." Said Oliver at once.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget? Oliver's number one favourite sugary delight of all time. Sugar Quills."

By this time, the trolley had arrived at the compartment. Steve made his requests and Albus and James got up to help his carry it. They dumped it on the empty seat next to James and handed it round.

They were swapping chocolate Frog cards about 30 minutes later when the lights in the compartment flickered on. Rose glanced out the window. "It's getting dark; we should be there soon, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, we should change." James said getting up and stretching. They pulled their back school robes on over their muggle clothing. James and Steve both pined on red collars and Gryffindor badges. The others pined on black collars and Hogwarts crests. "You get house coloured collars, badges, and scarves after you get sorted." James explained.

They train pulled up at Hogsmeade Station. The whole school piled out of the train and began moving towards some seeming horseless carriages. Although now, everyone knew that they were pulled by a heard of Thestrals- skeletal winged creatures that were only seen by those who had seen death. Over the voices of the chattering crowd a deep loud male voice was calling "First Years over here! First Years this way please, now!"

"That's the gamekeeper Ozzo," Steve said to Albus, Rose and Oliver. "You lot had better go. We'll see you later."

The three first years made their way through the crowd towards the sound of Ozzo's voice. They reached the end of the platform and were greeted by a tall large man with dark brown eyes, a full red face and short thick black hair in a square/circle afro style. He smiled down at them. "First years? I'm Ozzo the school gamekeeper. First years always travel by boat to Hogwarts, so please choose one, only three to a boat mind and don't get in the one marked 11 , that's mine." He pointed to around 11 small boats hovering in the lake that surrounded the right hand side platform each labelled with a number from 1-11.

"Have they been cleaned?" said an obnoxious voice. Albus turned and saw the white blond head of Scorpius Malfoy, coming towards them accompanied by two brown haired, black eyed boys. One was so thick muscular and stupid looking that Albus wondered if he'd been carved out of a particularly thick oak tree. The other was small and weedy looking with a permanent sneer on his face and an exceptionally large nose.

"What?" Ozzo said to Scorpius.

"I said "have they been cleaned?" "You see I don't really think my father would approve of me sitting in a dirty boat." Scorpius drawled.

"Your father eh?" Ozzo replied looking at Scorpius with evident dislike. "Who'd that be?"

"Draco Malfoy." Scorpius said haughtily.

"Malfoy?" "I know that name heard all about that family from my cousin Hagrid. He was gamekeeper too, you know. He didn't think much of them, and neither do I." Ozzo said. "Well young Mr Malfoy, I may be the gamekeeper, but I also teach Care of Magical Creatures, so that gives me the authority of a teacher. I'd hate to give a new student such as you a detention for rudeness on their first night, and before they even set foot in the Castle too,now_ that_ would be a record. But unless you show a bit of respect and get in a boat I may have to."

Scorpius flushed angrily, but muttered "Come on" to his friends and the got into boat number 5.

Albus. Rose and Oliver made sure to choose the boat furthest from them that was possible, which was number 10. Once all the first years had arrived and filled all but the eleventh boat, Ozzo got into his boat and tapped the side with his forefinger. Immediately all the boats began to glide smoothly down the lake.

As they rounded the only bend in the river every single first year gasped as one. There, in front of them towering over the lake and seemingly shadowing everything in a 5 mile radius, it windows glittering invitingly was the magnificent form of Hogwarts Castle.


	4. Chapter 3 The Sorting

Chapter 3- The Sorting

The boats soon docked at the end of the lake. The first years and Ozzo scrambled out of them, eager to get away from the sleeting rain that had just begun. The feeling of awe that had engulfed the first years at their sight of the school was now slowly being replaced by stomach sickening nerves. It was evident on each and every one of their faces that they had no idea what was in store for them and were unnerved by the fact.

"Come on, it's best that we get up to the castle." Ozzo called. "Follow me and no dawdling, you'll get to know the place better soon."

The first years followed him up the bank, through a narrow covered bridge, across a large square courtyard that was covered around the outside, and up to the entrance of the school. The doors were huge great slabs of wood carved with symbols and words, Oliver whispered in his ear "The doors show the history of Hogwarts. New things are added every year." With a jolt Albus realised that his father and his friends would be on them somewhere, he made a mental note to check later.

Ozzo pushed open the two doors and lead the way into an enormous entrance hall. On the right was a huge marble staircase that filled the entire right hand side of the hall. To the left of them was a gold statue of a wizard with long hair and even longer beard and half-moon spectacles perched on his rather crooked nose, holding his wand aloft, a phoenix on his shoulder. The statues' eyes gave the impression that the first years were being x-rayed. As small gleaming plate below it read _"Albus Percival Wilfric Brian Dumbledore (1881-1997),__ Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorc, ., X.J.(sorc.), S. Mag.Q. __13__th__ Headmaster of Hogwarts, founder of the Order of the Phoenix, possessed the Elder Wand (1945-1997), known as the only wizard He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named always feared._In the exact centre of the wall opposite then were another set of wooden doors, smaller that the first, and with no carvings. Standing in front of the doors stood a wizard so small that it left the first years wondering if he was part Goblin. He was standing next a stool that was just smaller than him, and holding a hat that looked unbelievably old that Albus was surprised that it had no mould on it, let alone that it was still in one piece.

"Professor Flitwick, here are the first years." Ozzo said.

"Thank you Ozzo." Professor Flitwick said squeakily. "I can manage from here."

Ozzo nodded, and headed through the doors into the room. Albus caught a glimpse of gold and black blurs before the door was closed.

Professor Flitwick turned to the first years, "In a few moments you will enter the Great Hall and participate in the sorting ceremony before joining your houses. The four houses are; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points, will be awarded the house cup. Your house prefects will help you find your way to your Common Room and show you your dormitories. Wait here, and I will return when we are ready for you." He turned to the stool, drew his wand and waved it. The stool lifted and hovered above his head as he passed through the doors.

He returned a minute later, "We are ready for you now, follow me."

The first years followed him through the doors, and into the magnificence of the Great Hall. Albus stared around in fascination, his jaw dropping. Four enormous wooden tables, their benches packed with students lay vertically across the large room and at the end of the room was a fifth wooden table placed horizontally the staff all sitting one side to face the students. Four large hour glasses stood in the corner of the room, one for each house all of them empty, as no points had been rewarded. The ceiling was dotted with candles, hovering high in the rafters of the building. It was the grandest room Albus had ever been in, "After all, he thought "they call it the Great Hall for a reason."

Professor Flitwick stopped just before the staff table and placed the stool next to him, placing the hat on top of it. The room was completely silent. Then one of the hat's seams appeared to split and the hat began to sing;

_Only 19 years ago,_

_Nearly all was lost,_

_Our castle became aglow,_

_With spells from those who crossed._

_The battle was a terrible one, _

_Many tears were shed,_

_But triumphed did the Chosen One,_

_Lord Voldemort is dead._

_It is my responsibility,_

_To spilt you, one by one,_

_By order of your ability,_

_Rather than what you've done._

_I know I have said it before,_

_But I worry this is wrong_

_But it's what I was made for,_

_I must keep Hogwarts strong._

_Which is why I am warning you_

_That danger may lie ahead,_

_Stay strong, stay smart, and stay true,_

_And evil shall not spread._

_Now place me on your head,_

_I shall see what is therein,_

_In words I could use instead,_

_Let the sorting now begin! _

The Hall erupted into applause, however it was punctuated with nervous sounding whispers from various parts of the room. After both the applause and whispering had did down, Professor Flitwick spoke; "When I call your name, you will come forth, I will place the sorting hat on your head, and you'll be sorted into your houses."

"Andrews, Gwyneth"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Apollo, Simon"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Boot, Thomas"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cobblestone, Harrison"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Corner, Kyle"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Davies, Ignotus"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Dolt, Graham"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Edgewoodington, Nick"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Gail, Sophie"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Gilton, Sally"

"GRYFFINOR!"

"Greene, Jack"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Hyatt, Pat"

"SLYTHERIN"

Albus scanned the Hall, looking for James suddenly feeling a little nervous. He was slightly reassured when both James and Steve gave him the thumbs up from the Gryffindor table. He turned his attention back to the sorting just as Professor Flickwick called "Jordan, Oliver"

Oliver walked to the front and sat on the stool, trembling. The hat was placed on his head, almost covering his eyes. The whole school sat in silence, staring, waiting for a decision; after about a minute the hat roared "GRYFFINDOR". Looking relieved, Oliver removed the hat and staggered over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down next to James.

"Juan, Harry"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Kenny, Anita"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Longbottom, Frank"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Mathers, Julie"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"McMillian, Michael"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Parron, Gillian"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Potter, Albus"

Albus walked up to the stool and sat down just as the hat was placed on his head. For a moment Albus sat there, staring back at the rest of the school, hearing nothing and wondering how the sorting hat was going to make the decision that would affect the rest of his life. Suddenly, a voice spoke;

"_Well, here we have another Potter."_

Albus jumped slightly and glanced around trying to see who spoke. He realised that it could've only been the Sorting Hat, as no-one had spoken during any of the other first years' sorting's. So, feeling rather foolish, he thought;

"Hello, Sorting Hat?"

"_Yes, Mr Potter, it is I."_

"Umm… ok, just so you know, I would like to be in Gryffindor, so if you could take that into consideration, that'd be nice of you."

"_I will have to consider all you're qualities first before I decide, but I will note it."_

"Thank you."

Albus heard small things from the Sorting Hat like; "_hmm… loyal, brave, talented, mind above average, good planner…." _For about a minute. Then the Sorting Hat spoke again;

"_Mr Potter?"_

"Yes?"

"_I have come to the conclusion that you would do well in both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, for your bravery and loyalty is to be admired by all. The choice is yours, as these qualities are both of equal rank."_

"Gryffindor, please."

"_You are sure?"_

"Yes."

"_Very well."_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat roared. Just before removing it, he thought "Thank you", and could've sworn he heard "_You're welcome_" in reply.

He walked over to the Gryffindor table, a grin unfurling on his face as the truth sunk in; _he was in Gryffindor_. He knew he had specifically asked to be, but he didn't really believe it until he heard the clapping and cheering from the Gryffindor table. He sat next to Oliver, feeling elated.

So after, Rose was also sorted into Gryffindor, and after "Zabatino, Alexandria" joined Hufflepuff, the Sorting Ceremony was concluded. After Professor Flitwick had removed both the hat and the stool from the room and taken his place at the staff table, Professor McGonagall rose and addressed the school; "Welcome to Hogwarts for another year. The time for speech making will be after the feast." She sat down as the five table were filled with different plates and bowls of food and jugs of pumpkin juice. Chicken drumsticks, fries, pizzas, salads, curries, wraps, mashed potatoes and hundreds of other things covered every inch of the tables. Numerous ghosts floated around the room occasionally, stopping to talk with students. Albus piled food on to his plate, suddenly realising how hungry he was, and listened to Steve tell Oliver and Rose about the staff.

"So, going from left to right, the man in moss coloured robes, that's Professor Longbottom, he teaches Herbology, he's our head of house, it used to be McGonagall, but headmasters and mistresses' are supposed to be mostly neutral, so he took over. Next to Flitwick is Professor Zabini, Potions master, head of Slytherin, but is actually quite decent. Next to him is Ozzo, and then there's Professor Trelawney, Divination, Dad said she's only made two real predictions, then McGonagall, Professor Thomas, Defence, Professor Binns, the ghost, he can't actually eat anything, he' just there because he's a teacher, teaches History of Magic, Professor McMillian, head of Hufflepuff, teaches Muggle Studies, Professor Vector, Arithmancy, Professor Babbling, Ancient Runes, Madame Scamander, matron, and at the end Madame Hooch, the flying instructor. McGonagall teaches Transfiguration, as well as being head, and Flickwick, head of Ravenclaw, teaches charms."

By now desert was over, and Professor McGonagall had go to her feet once more.

"Well, as I said before, welcome to Hogwarts for another year. Some general notices; Firstly, all students should note, as always, that the forbidden forest is as the name indicates is strictly forbidden. I would've thought it was obvious, but it doesn't seem to be. The first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, will be held in October, if you wish to play for your house team, see the team captain to sign up for trials. Waitson has added another 34 items to the list of banned things on his office door, which now includes cockroach clusters and liquorice wands. Now as you may've noticed, the Sorting Hat gave a warning in the customary sorting song this year, instead of the usual, listing of house qualities. This warning is the result of a chain of events that have unnerved the Ministry. For this reason, the Ministry has asked that we impose a series of new safety guidelines that will last until these events cease. These safety guidelines are; all Quidditch training seasons will be supervised by a teacher. Teachers and Prefects are to be patrolling the grounds during breaks. All notes allowing books borrowed from the restricted section will be cross checked before being signed, all students are to go immediately to your common rooms after dinner, leaving your common room at night after dinner is strictly forbidden unless you have a signed note from a teacher, prefect, or Quidditch captain that states a plausible reason for you being out, and all mail to and from the castle will be searched. That is all. Goodnight."

Everyone got up, and began to group around the doors the hall trying to get out. Albus heard a voice call over the crowd "Gryffindor first years! This way! Over here please!" nudging Rose and Oliver, Albus said "Shouldn't we go over there?" pointing in the direction of the voice. They nodded and he led the way over to the side of the crowd were a small knot of Gryffindor first years had already gathered, surrounding a girl and boy with blond hair, blue eyes and identical noses and mouths. The girl broke free of the knot and walked over to them smiling.

"Hi, I'm Cathy Johnson one of the Gryffindor Prefects. Over there is my twin brother Tyler, the other Prefect. Are you first years? Because we are missing three."

"Yeah, we are." Rose said.

"Great! In that cause we have you all. Tyler, I've got the last of them!"

"Ok, we should get going." Tyler replied. "Oi, you lot! Follow us! Single file, and_ please_ keep up!"

The first years followed the Prefects up several flights of stairs, pausing occasionally to wait for a certain staircase. As they walked, they passed numerous portraits that smiled and waved or glared and hissed at them for disturbing their sleep. They stopped outside a door sized portrait of a fat woman, with dark brown hair, who was dressed like Medusa. The five snakes on her headdress reared and spat at them, but as they were part of a portrait, and were only the length of toothpicks, this wasn't particularly frightening, much less turn-to-stone petrifying.

"This is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower." Tyler said "its portrait protected, as you can see. When you want to enter, just tell the fat lady the password and she'll let you in. For now the password is "sour cream."

"Correct!" trilled the fat lady, as she swung forward.

They followed the prefects through the portrait hole and into the Common Room. It was a large cosy, circular room, with red couches, wooden bookcases, tables and chairs, a large fireplace, and it was dotted with small alcoves. Gryffindor banners hung on the wall. Two singular doors stood on either side of some double doors across from the portrait hole.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room." Cathy said, "The boys dormitories are up the stairs through the single door on the left, the girls; the single door on the right. You'll find you're trunks at the end of the bed you've been allocated. The double doors are the rooms of the Head Boy and Girl, should one, or both of them, be in Gryffindor. This year, we have one; Samantha Lockerton. If you need help with anything you can go to her if you want. Any questions?"

"Yes." Sally Gilton said, "Doesn't the fat lady find it offensive that you call her the fat lady?"

"I don't think so. Everyone calls her that and she never says anything."

"Oh, ok."

"Any more questions?"

There were none, so the prefects told them to go up to their dormitories to unpack and go to bed. Albus and Oliver said goodnight to Rose and headed up the left staircase along with Simon Apollo, Harry Juan, and Frank Longbottom.

Simon was medium height, with dark skin, thick black hair and yellow eyes. Frank Longbottom looked like a smaller version of the Herbology Professor but with blond hair, and Albus found out he was Professor Longbottom's son, named after Neville's father, a famous auror. Harry Juan was named after Albus's father, in honour of his achievements. He was small but athletic looking, with rainbow coloured hair and wicked looking purple eyes, he was a Metamorphmagus, and proud of it.

Simon was half-blood, so he'd brought some Muggle posters with him. He stared at them incredulously when they asked him what "Elementary" and "Fanfiction" were. Albus and Oliver, didn't understand "Elementary". He told them it was a TV show, but as they didn't know what a TV was, he gave up. They were, however, intrigued by the concept of "Fanfiction". The thought of re-writing a story and putting it on some sort of line, sounded exciting, and Albus decided to ask Aunt Hermione how to do use a "comply-oo-ter", during the holidays.

Having finished unpacking, they all got into bed and Frank extinguished the candles with his wand. Goodnights were heard from every bed. Albus was soon asleep, his dreams were both good and bad scenarios of what could happen tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 4 The Dream

Chapter 4- The Dream

Albus was standing in a small room, his back against a side wall, facing a cauldron. The room was dirty, musty, and dark. The only light in the room was dim, and came from the cauldron which was filled with a thick, smooth, dirty white liquid. A cloaked figure stood over the cauldron, it's face in a shadow, stirring the liquid. As he watched, Albus saw a pattern developing; twice counterclockwise, once clockwise, 3 strokes down the center, and three more counterclockwise.

The person stopped, and drew something from their cloak, in the dim light Albus saw it was something long, silver and pointed, with a silver hilt, studded with rubies; the sword of Gryffindor, Albus had seen pictures of it. The figure lifted the sword into the air above the cauldron, illuminating it properly and he saw that from the middle of the sword to the tip, there was a black stain, dotted with dark green scales.

The Sword of Gryffindor was slowly being lowered towards the cauldron, point first. The second the black stain on the tip touched the contents of the cauldron, the dirty white smooth liquid turned a bubbling green, with steam flowing out of it, circling the cauldron in the form of a snake.

The person began to chant; "May Lord Voldemort begin to rise again, and with him will rise the Dark Order, greater and more powerful than ever before." Over and over, faster and faster, until the words were mixed together, so it sounded like a lot of nonsense words. But Albus was far from laughing. Rooted to the spot with terror, he could only watch, hoping he wouldn't be seen, but somehow thinking he wouldn't be, even if he went and stood on the other side of the cauldron, facing the chanter. The voice was that of a man, deep, and well cultured. Albus got a slight feeling it was familiar, but he shook it off. How would he know anyone who practised Dark Magic?

As the chanting continued, the steam-snake circled the cauldron faster and faster until it was a blur. Then suddenly the steam-snake turned black and rose into the air and hovered above the cauldron, now just a dark thick mist with no real form. Suddenly a pair of eyes appeared in the mist, they were full of evil; glowing red, with cat like slits for pupils...

Albus woke with a start, fear still coursing through him, still seeing the red eyes in the mist.

This was his first Sight. It wouldn't be his last.


	6. Chapter 5 The First Day

**A/N: Thanks for reading! All reviews welcome! **

Chapter 5- The first day

Albus lay in bed, trying to calm his nerves, "It was a dream." He told himself, "Just a stupid dream." But he doubted it. He didn't know what is was, but it was considerably more than just a dream,_ that_ he knew. Glancing at his luminous watch, he saw it was shortly after half past five. His father would be at work. Albus got up, stretched, and got a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink from his trunk. He passed Frank's bed, and a thought occurred to him. Longbottom, his dad had mentioned the Professor, it had been he who killed Nagini in the war, so surely they would've met him? Albus crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs and into the Common Room, where he sat down at a table and started to write;

_Dear Dad,_

_Nobody's hurt, I'm just writing to let you know that Rose and I are in Gryffindor, and to tell you about something._

_I had this really weird dream last night, but it didn't feel like a dream, more like a kind of vision. I was in this room, and a man was stirring a cauldron, and they put the Sword of Gryffindor, which had this scaly black stain on it into the cauldron, and chanted about Voldemort coming back, then the white stuff went all green and a smoky green snake came out of the cauldron, circled it, then it made a mist above the cauldron, and these eyes appeared, red ones, with pupils that were slits, like a cat's. Then I woke up. I didn't see the man's face or anything. I know it sounds like a dream, but it wasn't, I know it._

_We sat with James and his friend Steve on the train. Steve has a brother in our year called Oliver. Rose, he and I have kind of teamed up. Frank Longbottom is also in first year and in Gryffindor. You knew Professor Longbottom, you said so the night before we went to Hogwarts, why didn't we ever meet him?_

_Sorry for sending this so early, but I wanted to write and let you know what house I was in, and to tell you about the dream thing. _

_Love to Lily and Mum,_

_Al._

Albus rose from his chair and went over to a window. He called Epistula, and after a minute she flew into the Common Room and perched on the back of the sofa by the fire and held out her leg. Albus rolled up his letter, sealed it and tied it firmly to her leg. She hooted, and flew out the window, into the early morning sun.

After she had faded, Albus walked back up to his dormitory. By now, the other boys in his dormitory were awake and dressing, and they glanced up as he entered.

"Hey Albus, where have you been?" Oliver asked

"Writing to my dad." Albus replied, as he pulled on his robes.

"Oh."

They were soon dressed and were walking down the Grand Staircase, following some third years to the Great Hall for breakfast.

They met Rose at the Gryffindor Table. She was eating porridge and reading _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration._

She glanced up as they sat down. "Morning"

"Hi," they said.

"Don't go near the Slytherin Table within the next two minutes if you can help it." Rose said, glancing at her watch.

"Why?" Oliver asked, as he passed Albus some toast.

"James bewitched a pack of Dungbombs to look like bacon, so every time a knife and fork touch the "bacon" it explodes. Steve persuaded the House-Elves to change the normal bacon to the Dungbomb stuff during breakfast. So it should change in three… two…. One."

There were exclamations of delight from the Slytherin table as their bacon changed from steaming hot and fresh, to steaming hot and fresher. Faces stared smugly at the rest of the school, when it was realized that no other table had their food refreshed. Tongs were grabbed, bacon was piled onto plates, cutlery was picked up enthusiastically, then…

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Thick black smoke that smelled strongly of rotten eggs rose from the Slytherin table amidst screams of horror and disgust. Laughter echoed around the hall as the Slytherins raced around the hall, trying to avoid the odour.

Amidst the commotion, Albus noticed Professor Longbottom leave the hall.

Once Professor McGonagall had banished the smoke and the Slytherins returned to their table, the laughter died down. Soon after, a whooshing sound came from the rafters. Albus looked up and saw hundreds of Owls swooping down towards the various tables. Epistula landed on the table in front of him, and held out her leg, a piece of parchment attached to it.

"You wrote to Mum and Dad? When?" James asked coming up to them, Steve behind him.

"This morning, and just to Dad. Listen-" Albus told them of his dream, and his question about Professor Longbottom.

"It_ is_ odd that that we haven't met them before Hogwarts." Rose said, frowning. "If you lot did, surely Hugo and I would've too."

"Yeah." James agreed "But maybe Dad will have an answer."

Albus removed the parchment, and Epistula flew off, pausing to dip her beak into his goblet of Pumpkin Juice. Albus opened the letter and read it out loud quietly.

_Dear Al,_

_Congratulations to you and Rose for getting sorted into Gryffindor, and the earliness of your letter didn't bother me._

_Now, on to your "Dream". If you get another one, during the day, very late at night, whenever, go straight to McGonagall, she'll know what to do. I owled her as soon as I go your letter. I'm not saying anymore here in case Epistula is intercepted, or if you're reading this out loud, because however quietly you read, someone might overhear._

_With regards to Neville (Professor Longbottom) and his family, you did know them. When you, Rose and Frank were two, Lily and Hugo were one and James was three, we all used to meet up every so often. Neville was an auror then too. You see, for the first few years after the war, everything was fine. Then when you were five, the attacks started._

_They were just stupid, pointless attacks on witches and wizards, feeding on their old fear of Voldemort, to get other people's belongings. By people like Mundungus Fletcher, you know, crooks and such. They "performed" at night, in Diagon Alley and other wizarding places. They did things like; impersonating inferi, dressing like death Eaters, performing "dark magic" on people around their actual targets, who were in on the act, so the targeted people ran leaving their purchases. It doesn't sound so bad, but people were scared, and it was a very well-run operation, difficult to stop. We were dispatched into various places. (This is before I was Head of Department) Ron and I stayed in London, and Neville was sent to Plymouth. After it was over, I became Head, and I got an owl of resignation from Neville, saying he was taking a teaching position at Hogwarts. It's been so busy, that we haven't seen him since. We didn't mention it to you because you didn't remember, so it didn't matter._

_Remember what I said about your "Dreams". _

_Love to Rose and James, and say hi to Oliver and Steve from me. _

_Dad._

Albus looked up from the letter, confused, "Why would he tell McGonagall about the dream?"

"I don't know." James said. "Weird isn't it?"

"Well, it does sound like they were expecting it." Steve said, "I mean, 'go straight to McGonagall, she'll know what to do' doesn't sound surprised."

"Yeah." Rose said, then she asked; "Why is Professor Longbottom handing out papers?"

James looked at the Professor and groaned "Timetables."

Albus looked down the table and saw that Professor Longbottom had returned and was handing each student a timetable from one of seven piles that were floating along behind him, smiling at the horrified expressions the parchments were receiving. His smile widened as he came up to them.

"Hello, I'm Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher, and Head of Gryffindor House." He said to Albus, Rose and Oliver. "We've actually met before, Albus and Rose, but you were only about two then. I was a friend of your parents at Hogwarts."

"Yes, my dad did mention you." Albus said, smiling back at him.

Professor Longbottom reddened slightly. "Told you what happened in seventh year, then?"

They nodded.

"Did you really kill Nagini sir?" James asked, excitedly. "What was it like?"

"Yes I did, and it was like revenge. A strike against the Dark Order for all the pain and suffering it had caused."

"Wooooaaaah." James and Steve said in sync, staring at the Professor with wide eyes.

Professor Longbottom grinned. "I'm sorry to spoil your mood, boys, but I'm going to have to give to detention for your stunt with the Slytherins, McGonagall's orders. I'd award house points, but then I'd be biased, and no-one likes a biased teacher."

"It wasn't us! We wouldn't dream of it!" James said innocently.

"Didn't you say you got the idea from a dream?" Steve asked.

"Shut up! I'm trying to get out of detention!"

Professor Longbottom laughed, "As amusing as this conversation is, after the incident I left the hall to collect the timetables. On my way back, I slipped into the kitchen to see if I could find out who switched the bacon, and found it was a House Elf by the name of Winky. She said she did it as a favor for 'Master Steve.'"

"Winky loves you." James said, grinning at his friend.

"She does not!"

"Yes, she does."

"_The point is_, you have detention, after dinner tonight, my office. Here are your timetables." He waved his wand and two pieces of parchment flew out from the second pile. He caught them, then handed them out. The two left the hall, still debating Winky's love life.

The Professor turned to Albus, Rose and Oliver. "Now, you three will be needing timetables." He waved his wand once more and three time tables came from the first pile. He caught them again and passed them round. "Your first lesson is Potions, which is in the Dungeons; you go out the Hall, up to the first landing of the marble staircase, down the stairs at the right hand side, across the landing through the large round door, down the steps, along the corridor, and it's the thick door at the end of the passage that's on the right. Got that?"

Rose, who had been scribbling down the directions, her tongue poking out slightly, nodded.

"Well then, off you go and see you on Wednesday for Herbology!" With that, Professor Longbottom walked away and began to hand out more timetables.

Following the instructions, they soon found themselves standing outside the thick door, in a dimly lit passage, along with the rest of the Gryffindor first years, and the Slytherin first years. There was a large gap between the two parties, owing partly to house rivalry, but mainly due the horrific stench coming from the Slytherins, because of the Dungbomb Bacon. Scorpius Malfoy was amongst the worst smelling, but that didn't stop him maintaining his arrogant manner, nor, unfortunately, did it prevent him from speaking to Albus, Rose and Oliver before the lesson began.

"We're going to get you back for the Bacon." He hissed coming up to the Gryffindor's, his friends behind him. The rest of their House backed away from the smell, but the three of them, rather reluctantly, remained where they were.

Oliver replied coolly, "We had nothing to do with it."

"You're related to the ones that _did _do it." Said Pat Hyatt, looking down his large nose at him. "That's good enough for us."

"Bit cowardly, don't you think, Ro?" Albus said airily. "Afraid of the actual culprits, so taking it out on their younger siblings. Then again, they _are_ Slytherins, what do you expect?" Rose nodded.

Graham Dolt cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"Sure you know what's happening, Dolt?" Oliver asked.

He blinked, looking confused.

Rose laughed "Sod off Malfoy."

Scorpius looked furious, but before he could speak, Professor Zabini opened the door and the class entered the dungeon, looking around as they sat down.

It was a large square room, with rounded corners. It was surprisingly well lit, torches hovered in midair around the room. Five columns of 4 people benches stood in the center of the room, a large blackboard stood at the front of the class an enormous desk stood in the back in the right hand corner of the room, large piles of parchment covered its surface. A small door was on the opposite wall to the desk

Albus, Rose and Oliver had been joined by Frank, and they had just sat down at the end of the third row, when Professor Zabini closed the dungeon door, walked to the front and faced the class.

Zabini was a tall, thin, brown eyed, dark skinned man, with short black hair, wearing dark green robes. His eyes scanned the room, making sure he had everyone's full attention before he spoke. He marked the register, looking up as he said each name glancing at each student as they declared themselves present. He vanished the parchment after the last person had declared their presence. His eyes then scanned the room, making sure he had everyone's full attention before he spoke.

"Welcome to first year potions." His voice was deep, but soft, calm and friendly. "As this is your first year, and for some of you, your first year of knowledge about the magical world, I shall not expect too much of you. Although you make talk, help each other and move around the classroom as you wish while brewing, when I am speaking I expect you paying attention. I make no secret of the fact I was once in Slytherin, but do not let that deter you from asking advice. I treat each and every one of my students exactly the same regardless of house. Except in Quidditch matches when Slytherin is playing. Then, and _only _then, I am probably, the most biased Teacher this castle has ever seen. The only person who yells support loader than me is Professor Longbottom, when Gryffindor plays. So I advise earmuffs for the second game of the season. Now, back to potions. We shall be making two potions this year, the cure for boils and the forgetfulness potion. The rest of the time we shall be studying theory, including; basic preparation details on The Draught of Living Death, the twelve uses of Dragon's blood, basic antidotes, and the brewing of the Wiggenweld Potion. Now please open your books, and write the following;"

They spent the remainder of the lesson copying down notes that Zabini made appear on the blackboard with lazy flicks of his wand, changing them every time there was no sound of scratching quills in the room apart from his own, as he sat behind his parchment covered desk working through each pile that covered it. A the end of class he set them homework: To find one use of Dragon's blood, and write a five hundred word story which explains how that use could help someone today. He also gave them directions to their next class; Defence Against the Dark Arts.

The layout of this classroom was similar to that of the Potions Dungeon, except the desks were in two's and three's rather than fours. The room was also lighter, and there was a spiral staircase in the right hand corner of the room, leading to a door on a small landing.

The class was taught by Professor Thomas, and upon marking the register Albus and Rose found out that he, like Professor Longbottom, was a classmate of their parents at Hogwarts. He had dark skin, brown laughing eyes, and short, slightly curly black hair. He wore deep purple robes, and had enormous pure gold ring with a sliver opal in the center, engraved with a gold 'T', on the index finger of his right hand.

He leaned against his desk, smiling at them as they sat down. He waited until the last chair had stopped scraping before he spoke;

"Welcome to your first Defence class of many. I'm warning you now that this is one of the most challenging subjects you will do whilst at Hogwarts. It is probably the hardest, next to Transfiguration. The Dark Arts is the most evil practice in the World, and you need to know how to defend yourself if you ever come across a Dark wizard, witch, or creature. Some members of this class have parents who are Aurors, so they will have an idea of the spells needed to defend yourself. Whether you know a form of defense or not, doesn't matter, thought it may make this subject a bit easier for you. By the end of this year you will know; the curse of the bogies the Knockback jinx, the verdimillious charm, and cures for werewolf bites. Today we will be learning the wand movement for the curse of the Bogies, so, wands out, and stand up please."

The class stood up and drew their wands excitedly.

Professor Thomas drew a symbol of the blackboard beside him. It looked like a large teardrop that wasn't quite finished, like someone had to rush off before they got the opportunity to connect the right side of it to the tip.

"This is the wand movement for the Curse of the Bogies." The Professor said, waving his wand in the same shape as that on the board; his wand tip glowed green, suddenly and the first years jumped. "Please do not be alarmed when your wand tip glows, it's only waiting for an incantation. Each spell requires a different wand movement, and a wand movement without a spell, causes the tip of the wand to glow the colour of the spell. Obviously, if there's no spell colour, there's no glow. Are you all ready to try it? One…two…three."

As one, the first years and Professor Thomas waved their wands in the shape required. Well, the Professor did; nearly all of the first years rushed out of nerves and their wands glowed bright red, rather than green. The exception was Oliver. His went yellow, a feat that earned him a point for Gryffindor. Over the complaints of the Slytherins, Professor Thomas said that on a Muggle colour wheel, yellow was much nearer to green than red, so he couldn't see what they were complaining about. The bell for lunch rang soon after, and the first years left the classroom heading on the direction of the Great Hall.

After lunch, having got directions from a Prefect, Albus, Rose, and Oliver headed up to classroom 72, on the third floor, and entered the History of Magic classroom, for their second last class of the day. They were amongst the last to arrive, and they took three of the only seats left in the third row of a large wooden stand. The classroom was rectangular, and laid out rather oddly, with the large five story stand stretching across the right hand side of it, a window facing the door, and a long blackboard next to a moldy pink armchair faced the stands.

Around five minutes later, Professor Binns drifted through the drifted through the blackboard, clutching a large piece of parchment, making them all jump and several girl to stifle screams. "Calm down." Said Professor Binns in a bored voice sitting down on the armchair, hovering about 2 inches from the seat, and adjusting his notes. "Now, the Gargoyle Strike of 1911. This was a strike by wildcat Gargoyles occurring in nineteen eleven, as the name suggests. It was the result of…"

On and on he went, and as his voice held no emotion, it was soon evident that he had a knack for making events that would be exciting, sound as boring as buying a bottle of plain black ink in Diagon Alley. Albus had heard from his father and James about how Professor Binns seemed to drone, rather than speak, and he had to admit he agreed with them. The whole class seemed to be slipping into an irreversible slumber five minutes after the Professor began speaking. It remained this way for the whole of the hour-long lesson, and the class seemed to come back to life when the bell rang. Professor Binns, jumped and gave them directions to Transfiguration.

Rose, it seemed, had been looking forward to Transfiguration, for she practically dragged Albus and Oliver down to the Ground floor to classroom one. The door to the classroom was open when the students arrived, so they filed in and sat down talking and laughing loudly. The matched the Defense classroom, minus the spiral staircase, and the only other occupant in the room, apart from the first years was a brown tabby cat, with markings around its eyes. It sat stiffly on the desk, observing the first years with a stern expression on its face, Albus and Rose smiled at the cat; they had seen McGonagall's Animagus form before. Oliver saw them smiling, and frowned.

"What are you two smiling about?"

"See the cat?" Rose asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"That's McGonagall, she's an Animagus."

Oliver gasped, and waved shyly to the cat, who quickly lifted a paw in response, then went back to staring at the class. Gradually, they began to notice, and fell silent, staring back at the cat as it looked at them. The rest of the class drew in breath as the cat jumped and turned into Professor McGonagall.

She glanced around the classroom, her eyes moving in one sweeping motion taking in every upturned face, pausing of Albus for about a second, before taking in the remainder of the class.

"Transfiguration is one of the most difficult arts in the Magical world, and the most difficult subject taught hear at Hogwarts. Do not enter this class half-heartedly, otherwise you will find the things you will undertake in this room very difficult indeed."

The register marked, they proceeded to attempt to turn a matchstick into a needle. To Albus's surprise, his match turned into a needle on his second attempt, earning him two points for Gryffindor. Scorpius Malfoy's matchstick turned into a needle on his first attempt, gaining Slytherin five points. The rest of the class's result varied; Rose's matchstick turned silver, Oliver exploded his, and the remainder of the class seemed to vary between silver, like Rose, or just pointy.

The bell rang, and loud cheers echoed from the classroom next door. Frowning at the wall, Professor McGonagall dismissed the first years. Albus, Rose and Oliver were among the first to leave, and were soon walking through the doors to the Great Hall.

They sat down, filling their plates. A few minutes later, a ghost with a large ruff around his neck, glided over to them.

"Hello, I'm Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the Gryffindor House ghost, known widely as Nearly Headless Nick, I have a message for Rose Weasley, from Professor Flitwick."

"Yes?" Rose asked.

"He says a parcel from your grandmother has just arrived, and when it's gone through mail search it will be delivered your Common Room, but there's a lot of mail, so it should be there tomorrow morning."

"Ok, thank you."

"I was a friend of your parents when they were here, you know," said Nick, sitting next to Albus as he spoke, "Marvellous people, simply wonderful. I am still considered something of a Potter authority in the spirit world, as I was when they were here. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand I'm here."

"Thanks," Albus replied. "There is something you could do to help us. Would you happen to know a use of Dragon's Blood?"

Nick looked thoughtful for a moment, then beamed, "Dragon's Blood is sometimes used a cleaner, in some wizarding households."

"Thanks very much, you've just made our evening much easier." Oliver said, writing it down.

"You're very welcome! Anything you need, anything at all, it'll be no trouble!" With another beaming smile, Nearly Headless Nick bowed, his head wobbling, and floated away.

They returned to the Common Room after dinner, and started on their Potions homework. They didn't have Potions again until Wednesday, but Aunt Hermione, being backed up heavily by Uncle Ron and Harry, had warned them of the dangers of leaving their homework to the last minute, and it seemed Oliver's mother, Katie Jordan, formerly Katie Bell, had warned him of the same thing.

The homework itself was easy, it was the actual length that was difficult. They were just about finished, when James and Steve entered the Common Room, groaning.

"Hi, how was detention?" Albus asked as the two sat down, opening their bags.

"The usual," Steve replied, "lines."

"Yeah; '_it's unwise to dwell on dreams'_, fifty times. Part of a quote, apparently. I wouldn't mind, but we've got a two foot essay for Flitwick, that'll take all night." James said, scowling.

"Well, good luck with it, I'm going to bed. Night all" Rose said, standing up and picking up her stuff.

"Night." They replied.

Soon after, Albus and Oliver laid down their quills, sighing in relief. They repacked their bags and bade their brothers good night. They arrived at the dormitory, got changed and got into bed. The others were already asleep. Albus's last thought before he fell asleep was of that morning; more specifically: his father's letter, and how it opened up more questions than it answered.


	7. Chapter 6 The Sign

Chapter 6

The rest of the week passed quickly, and Albus begun to hope that the only reason he would ever have to go to Professor McGonagall was for Transfiguration and school-related things, and not for a, I-had-a-vision/dream-thing-can-you-help-me related thing. The only memorable moments of the last week were during the first year's first Herbology class where Professor Longbottom was attacked in mid-sentence by the castle's only resident Venomous Tentacular, as he showed them round the various greenhouses. The other was that since the night of the dream, Albus had been getting terrible migraines in the right side of his head.

Time seemed to stop speeding by, come the following Wednesday morning at breakfast. This was the result of an exciting discovery for the first years; they were to have their first flying lesson that afternoon. The rest of the day was filled with a wide variation of stories from various first years, each containing action scenes, which always ended with the classmate in question escaping various dangerous situations, on the back of a stolen _Firebolt 2.3_; the latest broom.

Albus was feeling rather nervous about the whole thing. He had flown before, they had had numerous Potter vs. Weasley tournaments, but he had always preferred to play Keeper during their family games, rather than get involved with the battles for the Quaffle and Snitch. So the thought of having to do laps around the pitch, rather than just hover in the air darting side to side, was daunting. It didn't help that he got the impression that everyone was expecting rather a lot from him. After all, his parents were both amazing Quidditch players, and James was nothing short of brilliant, having bent the first year rule when he became a Gryffindor Chaser last year. So it seemed a lot to live up to.

The flying lesson was set for 3pm. At 2:55 all the first years began to troop down to the Quidditch Pitch and were greeted by Madam Hooch. She waved her wand and a number of old brooms appeared on the ground in front of them, some bouncing around, others shuddering. Madam Hooch instructed them to select one and line up facing her. Albus ran forward and quickly selected one of the few that didn't look as though they were going to be a struggle to ride. The class lined up, and Madam Hooch began to speak:

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Please lay your chosen broom on the ground, on your preferred side." They did so.

"Now, place your hand over the broom and say 'up'".

In unison the first years held their hands over their brooms and chorused "up!"

Albus, Rose, Oliver's, and Scorpius Malfoy's broomsticks all shot up into their hand immediately. After a while, all the first years had their brooms in their hands, though many had simply picked them up when Madam Hooch wasn't looking.

"Well, now that you all have your brooms, we will do some basic exercises. If, at any time you don't feel comfortable, simply point the tip of your broom slowly towards the ground and lean forward slightly. Please swing one leg over the side of the broom, kick the ground lightly, and hover for ten seconds, then land."

She barked this off very quickly and Albus concentrated hard to remember what she said. "_Swing one leg over broom…kick ground lightly…hover...10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2 ...1, land." _He thought as he completed each step. He looked up and saw Madam Hooch smiling approvingly at him. "Excellent, Potter, it appears it runs in the family."

Albus smiled back, and watched the rest of the class. No one was doing badly, they were all hovering in the air, having either just risen or about to land. After the last person had landed, Madam Hooch spoke again;

"Well done. You are one of the only groups of first years in all my years at Hogwarts where all of you managed to successfully complete that exercise. You therefore all qualify to attempt the next one. One width of the Quidditch Pitch. Remember if you don't feel comfortable, point the tip of your broom slowly towards the ground and lean forward slightly. "

As the lesson progressed, Madam Hooch kept them doing various exercises until they were flying the whole length of the Quidditch Pitch, 15 feet off the ground. It was only the more experienced fliers that managed to progress to this stage however. Albus was amongst them, and he was just starting to feel like maybe he could be a chaser in the Potter vs. Weasley tournament in the holidays, as flying around wasn't that bad, when his head started to pound. "Not again." He thought as he prepared to lower himself to the ground. He was about halfway there when the pain mounted. Everything went black, his head was still searing and he felt like he was falling…

_He was standing on hill, overlooking a village. A very familiar looking village. Albus gasped as he saw the hooded man from the dream was standing beside him. The man's face was covered but it looked like he was staring across the village at a large farmhouse, on a hill directly opposite the one they were currently standing on. Albus knew exactly where they were: on the hill opposite his home._

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter!"

Albus sat up gasping, feeling as though someone had just doused him in icy water, his vision blurry, head hurting worse than ever. As his eyes adjusted he saw that he was lying in a pure white bed. He was unable to see anything else of where he was though, because his view was obstructed by a large number of people surrounding the bed he was in. James, Rose, Oliver, Steve, a woman with dirty blond hair, whom Albus recognized as Madam Scamander the matron, Professor McGonagall and a portrait that was hovering in midair, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, who were both wearing black, his grandparents, Hugo, and to Albus's great relief, Lily, and his parents, who were both wearing black as well. They were all staring at him; the adults in horror, the cousins and friends in confusion. Only the painting was smiling at him, over the tips of its long fingers.

"What happened? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"Oh, Al!" said Grandma Molly, bursting into tears.

"I think it's best if we show you, before we answer any questions." Said Harry, who was looking half horrified, half angry.

Madam Scamander passed him a mirror and Albus looked at his refection felling confusion bubbling up inside him. Over his right eyebrow, in the exact place where his father's scar was a symbol of some kind. It was a triangle, with circle in the centre, a line going straight down the middle of both shapes.

**A/N: Review please!**


	8. Chapter 7 The Seer

Chapter 7

Albus sat staring at his reflection, stunned. A silence filled the room, which was eventually broken by James, who had been frowning hard, eyes moving, as if working on a jigsaw puzzle.

"I don't understand something."

"Only one thing?!" Hugo exclaimed. "Well you're well ahead of the rest of us."

James rolled his eyes, but ignored him, "Ok, so: someone's bringing Voldy back to life, right? I get that. They're using some wacko Dark Magic to do it. I get that too. But what I don't get is why and how Al is involved in this. I mean, Dad defeated him, it's understandable that he would want revenge, and that he may target us, as his kids, but why just Al? Why not all of us? I mean, I'm not saying that I want a symbol on my head, and vision things, but _why just him?"_

"That's a good question, James," Harry said, his eyes drifting over to the floating portrait and fixing it with a sharp glare, "a very good question. I think it's time we got some answers."

"Wait a minute." Albus said, breaking out of his stunned trance. "I have questions, too: What is this symbol? Why is it on my head? How did get there? When did it happen? Who do I keep seeing in the vision-dreams? What are the vision-dreams?"

"More good questions" said Harry loudly, "wouldn't you agree Professor Dumbledore?"

"Indeed Harry." said the portrait Albus now knew to be his namesake. "I also think you are correct in believing that answers are required. In fact, I couldn't agree more. But before I begin to explain what I know, I have a question of my own. Albus?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What did you see when you fell off the broom?"

"My home."

"WHAT?!" Aunt Hermione, Ginny, and Grandma Molly screeched.

Harry went over to the fireplace and threw some floo power into the fire, turning the flames bright green. "Potter farmhouse." he said, kneeling down and putting his head in the flames. "Teddy! Teddy!"

"What's up?" they heard a voice say.

"Come to Hogwarts, please." Harry replied as he withdrew his head from the flames and stood up. Seconds later, a woman wearing wizards robes came spinning into fireplace.

"Hi Victoire." Uncle Ron said as the woman stepped out of the fireplace, brushing soot off her robes. "Err… Why are you wearing wizards's robes? Where's Teddy?"

"What?" Victoire said, in an unusually deep voice, sweeping her waist length silvery blond her over her shoulder. "Oh… Victoire's thinking about cutting her hair so I was helping her to decide what style." she replied. Then she screwed up her nose as if smelling something disgusting and her face morphed into that of Teddy Lupin. At that moment the doors burst open, and an earth covered Professor Longbottom entered. "Sorry I'm late, Venomous Tentacular got appendicitis, that's why he kept attacking me, because he was trying to tell me. Don't ask." he said as Ginny opened her mouth.

"So," Teddy said, conjuring two armchairs out of thin air next to Albus's bed and sitting down in one, the professor siphoned of the dirt with his wand and took the other, "You called Harry?"

"Yeah, we were wondering whether there was anything suspicious around while you and Vic were babysitting Lily this afternoon."

"Not as far as I know," Teddy replied, "After we got the call from McGonagall about Al, we floo'd Lily here and went to the DOM to see McLaggen, like she said to.

"DOM?" Steve asked.

"Department of Mysteries." Ginny said. "What did he say?"

"Well, he was very ah-_ inquisitive_, shall we say," Teddy replied, "Seemed to think that just because he was head of Department he had every right to know every detail of all our lives just to check a family tree and look up Gift records."

"Never liked him." Uncle Ron said, scowling.

"Wait a minute!" Albus exclaimed, "Gift records?! Check a family tree?! I'm missing something."

Teddy looked grim. "I'm sorry that you have to find out about it this way Albus, but you're a Seer."

The room was silent for about a minute, then-

"Wait, what?" James asked.

"Yeah," Teddy replied. "I don't get it either."

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat; "I believe some explanations are in order."

"You think?" Lily muttered.

The Professor's eyes twinkled, "Indeed Miss Potter. I just need one more thing, or rather one more person. Excuse me." He walked out the side of his picture, appearing again after a minute accompanied by another painting of a man. His greasy curtain of black hair framed his face, with its shallow skin, hooked nose and black eyes.

"Now that we are all here, it's time to begin." Professor Dumbledore said.

**A/N: In case you were wondering why Albus doesn't know Professors Snape and Dumbledore, it because they live at Hogwarts and this is his first time there.**

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter 8 Part 1 Explanations Part 1

**A/N: This chapter will be in two parts, so it will be easier to understand.**

**Chapter 8 Part 1**

_"Now that we are all here, it's time to begin." Professor Dumbledore said._

"As we know, the events of the past few weeks are the result of, someone attempting to bring Lord Voldemort back into the world of the living. This is being attempted through the darkest and most ancient of all magical Potions, the _Resurgo de Malum_ _Potion."_

"How does the potion work?" Granddad Weasley asked.

The greasy haired portrait who was sitting beside Dumbledore cleared his throat;

"This potion is similar to the one concocted by Peter Pettigrew in 1995, for Lord Voldemort's rebirth. There are however, a few differences, two small and one large. The largest of the three is the cause of all the events that have occurred."

"This difference lies in the brewing of the potion. The potion in 1995, was constructed by the bone of the father, flesh of the servant and blood of the enemy. This potion, however, is brewed by combining all of the Horcruxes and the wand of the witch or wizard into one liquid; the key being that Horcruxes are being placed into the brew in the reverse order that they were made. Therefore piecing the soul back together, erasing the Horcruxes and forming a human being as a result."

"Thank you Severus, Dumbledore said, "In this instance, the Horcruxes will have to be brewed in this order: Nagini, Harry, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Hufflepuff's Cup, Slytherin's Locket, Marvolo Guants Ring, and Tom Riddles Diary."

"But they were destroyed." Said Harry, his voice hoarse. "We destroyed all the Horcruxes."

"I'm afraid that once an object has become a Horcrux, it never fully stops being one. If the object is destroyed the Horcrux dies, but the essence of the Horcrux remains buried deep inside the skin, or metal, that forms the shape or shell of the object. You received Minerva's letter, and followed the instructions? "

"Yes sir." Harry replied, "Seal on the guest room door, Hattie told not to let anyone up the stairs, exactly as the letter requested."

Albus felt a sharp pain in his head, his eyes closed as he gasped, and a scene flashed before his eyes:

_He was inside his home, on the guest landing. The guest area was in a separate part of the house; a staircase from the corner of the living room lead to the small landing on which was a large bedroom and a family sized bathroom, all of which was only ever used of they had a visitor. Hattie, the family's House-Elf, lay at his feet, clearly stunned. She did only the cleaning, and protected certain objects in the house with her own brand of magic. Albus tore his gaze away from her and saw the cloaked man standing in front of the bedroom door, casting non-verbal charms on the door, with little success it seemed, as the door remained firmly closed. Clearly losing patience, the man drew his wand back and roared "Bombarda maxima!" A white light filled the area, followed by an explosion, as the entire wall was blasted apart, showering the contents of the room beyond in a fine white dust. Albus coughed as he watched the man stride into the room, and pause, seemingly observing the clear wall that separated a small table on which sat a beaded bag from the rest of the room. Suddenly the man pointed his wand at the wall, and a jet of blue light shot from the end of it, disintegrating the clear wall into thousands of little gold flakes. The man walked forward, picked up the bag, then turned on the spot, and vanished from sight. _

"Al?! Al are you alright?!"

Albus opened his eyes, his head pounding. Madam Scamander thrust a goblet into his hand. "Drink this, it'll help." Albus drank, and instantly his head cleared.

"What did you see?!" Ginny exclaimed, as Harry sucked in his breath.

"Happy," he gasped, breathing deeply. "Really happy."

"Albus, what did you see?" Ginny repeated.

"The hooded man broke into the house, stunned Hattie, smashed the guest room wall, broke an enchantment and stole a beaded bag from the guest room."

"Did you see who it was?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.

Albus shook his head.

"Dad?" Lily asked timidly, "What was in the bag?"

"The ashes of Ravenclaw's Diadem."

**A/N: Please review!**


	10. Chapter 8 Part 2 Explanations Part 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone for reading this story!**

**Chapter 8 part 2**

"The ashes?" Lily repeated, confused.

"Yeah, after it was destroyed Ron kicked it into the Fiendfyre, so it melted into ashes. We collected them after the battle, to get them melted back into the diadem out of respect for Ravenclaw, but Helena Ravenclaw said she never wanted to see the thing again, and that she wanted us to preserve the ashes for her mother. So we did. The ashes remained in Hermione's beaded bag locked in our vault, but we removed them after my scar burned, since it has been proven that Gringotts can be broken into and we have been swapping the bag between our house, Hogwarts, and your Aunt and Uncle's ever since."

"Hattie." said Ginny suddenly, "She may've seen who it was! I'll go and get her."

She got up and ran over to the fireplace, threw in some flew powder called "Potter farmhouse." stepped into the green flames and spun out of sight.

She returned a few minutes later, Hattie beside her.

"Hello Hattie." Aunt Hermione said kindly.

"Hello Miss." Hattie replied nervously. Her tennis ball sized eyes rotated over of them, coming to a rest on Harry. "Master, Hattie is very sorry. He comes bursting in the front door, running through the house, Hattie tried to stop him from going up the stairs, sir, but he tells Hattie to move and pushes her aside. Hattie tries binding his legs together, sir, but he cast some light at her before she can, sir, and the next thing Hattie knows Mistress Ginny is kneeling beside her. Hattie is still working for you sir?"

"Of course Hattie, you did everything you could," Harry replied, "Now this is very important, did you see who it was?"

"No sir, he had a hood, sir, with a skull for a face, sir. Hattie only knew it was a man because of his deep voice sir."

"Thank you Hattie you may go."

"Yes, sir." With a little nod and a loud _Crack!_ The Elf vanished.

"A Death Eater?" Uncle Ron asked.

"Or someone who wants us to think he's one." Aunt Hermione said.

"Professor Dumbledore, about what you said before; the Horcruxes brewing order, how could they brew Harry?" asked Professor Longbottom.

"Like the Polyjuice potion, they would only need a form of DNA; a hair or toenail, something like that."

"Oh."

"Professor?" Aunt Hermione asked suddenly.

"Yes?"

"Is it possible that Harry may have passed on part of the essence of the piece of Voldemort's soul to his children?"

"It has happened. The fact that Albus has been having visions that by the sounds of them are similar to the ones Harry experienced in his youth, combined with the fact that he now has an ancient magical symbol seeming burned into his forehead surely proves this. I do believe that this relates back to one of James's questions: why just him? The answer is simple; technically it is not just him. All three of you possess part of the essence, however due to Albus being a Seer, his are enhanced."

"How is he a seer, though?" Ginny asked. Teddy answered;

"Through his great-great grandfather. Charlus Potter's father, Eldon Potter, was an _Ostendo Videns_, like Albus, though this fact is hardly known as he died when his son was a baby, and because he never had any visions no-one knew except the Ministry knew, and they only knew because according to the Gift records sheet at the Ministry, over the past 100 years, Gifts have skipped three generations, and as Eldon was an only child there was no-one else that could have inherited the Gift. Because of the fact it skipped three generations it is two be expected that either James, Albus or Lily would inherit the Gift, and Albus has."

"An_ Ostendo_ _Viden_s? What's that?" Albus asked.

"_Ostendo_ is the Latin word for Present, and _Videns_ is Latin for Seer" Professor Longbottom replied, "It translates to Present Seer. I think it means that you are a Seer that sees not the future, but the present."

"That is correct, Longbottom." Said Professor McGonagall with the ghost of a smile.

James shot his hand into the air. "Yes, James?" Dumbledore asked.

"My original statement/question hasn't been answered yet; how and why is Al involved?"

"You answered the why yourself earlier. Revenge. The how is very, very simple. Albus is seeing visions of Voldemort's re-rebirth. It is my guess that Voldemort felt the presence of the essence of the Horcrux within Albus, realized it was a human, and began to forge a connection like the one Harry and Voldemort share, but as Albus is not a Horcrux it is weaker and is only active in the times when Voldemort is at his most Evil, such as when the potion is in progress or an ingredient is being gathered. Whether he is aware of this is unknown."

"Sir?" Albus asked, "When I got this symbol I wasn't near the cauldron that Voldemort was in, I was standing on the hill, so how did I get it?"

"It is also my guess that the reason why you received the symbol when you was not near the cauldron is because the man, no doubt on his Master's orders, is, for want of a better phrase, carrying Voldemort around in a vial."

There was a stunned silence.

**A/N: Please review! If there is anything you don't get, put it in the review and it will be explained in a chapter!**


	11. Chapter 9 The Letter

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading, favouring, following and reviewing. This story has gained over 1,000 views! **

**Chapter 9**

The silence lasted for around five minutes, then-

"Wow." Harry breathed, "Just wow."

"Wow what?" Aunt Hermione asked.

"Think of it this way; we're talking about the greatest dark wizard of all time, right? Right now he is a potion. His existence is _liquidized._ Pour him down a sink and he'll probably never be heard of again. Can you imagine how completely mental someone must be to carry Lord Voldemort around in a vial and still keep up the appearance that everything's normal?"

Uncle Ron flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name, then whistled. "Yeah, I see it."

At that moment Noctua flew in through an open window and perched on the bed frame, holding out her leg to Harry. Harry took the letter and opened it reading the contents aloud;

"_Turn on radio to WWN. Kingsley."_

Madam Scamander waved her wand and a Muggle radio flew out of her office towards them. "Thanks Luna." Aunt Hermione said. The Matron nodded, smiling dreamily. Aunt Hermione tapped the radio with her wand and muttered; "Dobby never means to kill, only to maim or seriously injure." Harry bowed his head at her words. Instantly a voice came through the small speakers, and Oliver's and Steve's faces lit up.

"That's my dad." They said in sync.

"That was 'A Hippogriff's talking to me, OMG' courtesy of the Weird Sisters." Lee Jordan said. "We interrupt our daily 'what's wizard right now' segment with an important message from Kingsley Shacklebolt, who - for those of you living under a melted cauldron and somehow managed to get a radio, and even then you should know - is Minister for Magic. Hello Minister."

"Good Morning." The deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt replied. "As a result of the increase in the black market trade of dark objects from the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry will be conducting raids on wizarding houses over the next few weeks. You will receive an Owl of notification 1 day prior to your inspection. Any attempt to rid your home of Dark objects will become known to the Ministry within 3 hours of you doing so. Thank you and have a pleasant day."

"Kingsley Shacklebolt there with a new management plan. We now return to 'what's wizard right now' with Celestina Warbeck's recording of the Puddlemere United Quidditch team's anthem; 'Beat Back Those Bludgers Boys and Chuck That Quaffle Here'." As the song started, Aunt Hermione turned off the radio, and stared around.

"Well," she said, "We'll have see what happens in the next few weeks."

**XXXXXXX**

Albus was released from the Hospital Wing three days later, having proven that despite having visions about a dark wizard's re-rebirth, he was in perfect health. Madam Scamander had charmed his hair so that his fringe covered almost all of the mark, except for the bottom right hand corner of the triangle. Rose, James and his sixth year cousin Molly, who had been away at The Beaubatons Academy of Magic for student exchange, met him outside the door.

"Hey Al." Molly said grinning at him. "Can I see?"

Albus grinned back and pulled back his fringe. Molly leaned forward and examined it, brushing it lightly with her fingers, her mouth a perfect 'o' of fascination. "Whoa." she breathed, "Even though it is linking your mind to Voldemort's and it is also well known as the symbol of Gellert Grindelwald and of the Deathly Hallows that is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen in my whole life."

"Pleased to hear it." Albus replied, as a bell rang.

"That's my cue." Molly said with a laugh, "Catch you later!" She called over her shoulder as she ran down the corridor.

"Shall we go?" James asked.

"Yeah." Albus said, "Where's Oliver and Steve?"

"Detention."

"Oh. Wait, what!? I can understand Steve, but Oliver?"

"Well, surprisingly enough, it was Oliver who did the real damage. Scorpius Malfoy was laughing that you fell off your broom and saying how arrogant and conceited you were and Oliver lost it, true to his House. He hit him with the Tongue-Tying Curse, The Leg Locker Curse, then punched him in the face. Very impressive for a mere ickle firstie, Peeves said. Oliver will be in Detention every Saturday for 8 weeks and he has to write a letter of apology to Malfoy. Steve got in trouble for supporting him and setting fire to every Slytherin banner in the castle. He'll have detention for 5 weeks. Malfoy got two week's detention for spite."

"Wowzers."

The rest of the week's days passed quickly as Hogwarts life continued in its usual manner, apart from one Sunday afternoon when James swore he had seen Harry and Ron leaving McGonagall's office. Nobody could think of any reason for it so it was forgotten until the arrival of a letter from Ginny that came after dinner the next night. Noctua was perched on a window sill tapping on the glass rather impatiently when they returned to the Common Room. James let her in, dodging her wing as she flew passed his head. She landed on his shoulder and as he took the letter from her it glowed green. But Noctua did not fly away, as she would normally. She simply nipped his ear lightly then hopped off his shoulder and onto the high backed red armchair beside him. James looked at her with an eyebrow raised, but she stared just back and him beadily, her amber-green eyes wise and serious. He ripped open the letter, read it and his jaw had barely dropped before he collapsed into the chair, struck dumb.

Albus pried the letter from James's steel-like grip and read it, Rose looking over his shoulder.

_Dear James, Al, and Rose,_

_After the events of last week, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I have been having serious thoughts about the family's safety, because Voldemort's Helper still has to get hold of Harry's DNA for the potion. We are worried that They will kidnap a member of the family to use as bait. Harry's DNA for a family member. We have had numerous discussions with everyone in the family and Professor McGonagall and we have decided to impose some security measures. Everyone in the family except, Ron, Hermione, Hugo, and ourselves will be moving to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Hogsmede Branch which will be under the Fidelius Charm, Hattie will be Secret Keeper. Harry, myself, Lily, Ron, Hermione, and Hugo, will be coming to live at Hogwarts. Special quarters have been set up. Hattie will be working in the Kitchens. We arrive tomorrow, please come to McGonagall's office at 10:30 in the morning._

_Love,_

_Mum/Aunt Ginny._

_P.S. Please burn this letter._

Albus threw the letter into the fire and made sure it was burning before turning to his brother.

"Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic?"

"No." James groaned, "Mum and Dad are going to be _living at school._ How much am I going to be able to get away with? Less than zero percent."

"Aww, poor James. You'll get over it." Rose replied, smiling. "It'll be fun!"

"That's it." James said, staring at his cousin as if she'd grown 17 eyes and 3 heads. "I'm buying you a dictionary for Christmas."

"Already got one."

"Ok a thesaurus, then."

"Do you know what a thesaurus is?"

"Of course! It's a…err…ah…Dictionary-type-thingy!"

"Exactly."

"I know!"

"We should probably reply to the letter don't you think?" Albus asked breaking up the banter."

"Yeah." James replied. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from his bag and scribbled on it, saying the words as he wrote them. "Mum, received and burnt letter, looking forward to seeing you all, love James, Al and Rose."

He sent it with Noctua, and after a chorus of goodnights, they all went to bed.

**A/N: The next chapter will be longer, please review!**


	12. Chapter 10 The Attack

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and special thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favoured so far! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 10

When Albus woke the next morning his first fully formed thought was of his family. More specifically, about how excited Lily and Hugo must be, getting to see and find their way around the castle a year before they actually started their magical education. Wondering idly about what his parents, aunt and uncle would be doing while they were in the castle, he got up, dressed and lay on his bed reading _'Quidditch through the Ages'_ until the others in his dormitory began to stir.

Once Oliver was dressed, the two boys headed down the narrow spiral staircase and into the Common Room where they met Rose, who had a large oriental butterfly on the end of her plait. After a lengthy breakfast, they headed to double Charms. Halfway through the class, Professor Flitwick came up to them, watched them perform "Wingardium Leviosa" and said that they could leave. Waving goodbye to Oliver, Albus and Rose left the classroom.

They hurried through the school, getting lost three times before asking Nearly Headless Nick to show them the way to McGonagall's office.

"Thanks, Nick. Do you know the password?" Rose asked, as they approached the gargoyle

"I believe it is 'golden snuffbox.'" Nick replied, and the gargoyle sprung to life, bowing low to reveal a spiral stone staircase.

"See you later." Nick said, disappearing through a wall.

They climbed onto the first step and the staircase spun slowly upwards towards a large arched shaped oak door. As they got closer, voices could be heard on the other side.

"No, sir, we are telling him everything. I will not withhold information from my son when he has a right to know the information!"

"Harry, Tom could be able to see into his mind and possess him, I don't think you under-"

"I understand perfectly, thank you. I also understand that being cryptic and withholding facts from people that could prevent events that need never happen, is not the best course as you yourself admitted to me when I was fifteen, sir." Harry's voice turned colder with each word.

"Rose and Al are outside." James said quietly.

The door swung open and the two walked inside, staring around the room as they did so. It was large and circular, filled with a soft blue light. Rows of wooden bookshelves lined the walls, below the numerous portraits of various witches and wizards that covered almost every inch of the walls. The Sorting Hat sat on one of the bookshelves in an enormous alcove that led of the room, a spiral staircase led upwards from the alcove's entrance. A gigantic telescope filled the remainder of the alcove's space. A small array of red and gold tartan couches and armchairs were grouped around a small round table on which lay platter of sandwiches and jugs of pumpkin juice; it appeared they would miss lunch. The chairs and tables were adjacent to a large flame filled marble fireplace near a large Mahogany desk. The Headmistress was seated behind the desk, a large painting of the potions Dungeon containing Professor Snape in a green and silver high backed armchair on the wall behind her, a slightly smaller portrait of Professor Dumbledore in a red and gold high backed armchair in a magnificent library hung to the right of it. Albus's parents, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, James (with the Marauders Map on his knee), Lily and Hugo sat in the chairs near the fire. McGonagall placed her wand onto her desk motioned for them to sit. They did so, and helped themselves to sandwiches. Save McGonagall and James, their arrival went unnoticed for everyone else's (including all the portraits) attention was focused entirely on the verbal battle between Harry and Professor Dumbledore.

"Albus has a right to know any information relating to this mater."

"We could be revealing our knowledge to Voldemort."

"Excuse me, I have a suggestion." Aunt Hermione broke into the argument. "There is that new spell."

"What spell?" Was chorused through the room.

"A spell that has been recently invented by members of the Department of Mysteries and taught to the Aurors last week. It allows us to see whether a person is or has been possessed, or is or has been the victim of Legilimency as well as whether someone has attempted to possess them or use Legilimency on them and if so, who." She recited.

"Oh yeeaaahh. That one." Harry replied, dawning comprehension clear in his voice. "It's worth a try, Albus?"

Albus nodded. In truth, he was slightly nervous, what if Moldyshorts _had_ possessed him? He could rule out Legilimency, for his father had taught them all Occlumency and how to detect someone had entered their minds when they turned eight. But the famous Gryffindor Bravery struck again, and so he stood in the middle of the office, every eye trained upon him as Aunt Hermione stood in front of him and sliced her wand diagonally through the air, twisting her wand clockwise as she pointed it at him, in a non-verbal spell. At once a cold feeling eloped him and he gasped slightly as a blue light seemed to shine out of him. His father grinned triumphantly and gestured for Aunt Hermione to remove the spell. She did, while explaining that if someone glows green they are/have been possessed, and if they glow red are/have been victims of Legilimency, whereas hey are/ have been perfectly fine should they glow blue.

"I feel I owe you an apology Albus," Dumbledore said gravely, "I thought perhaps you may have been used by, as you know him, Lord Voldemort. I'm sorry, and I hope you will forgive me."

"Its fine, sir, don't worry." Albus replied with a small smile. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Now that we've established beyond all reasonable doubt that my son is not being possessed by Voldemort, can we continue with our plans?" Ginny snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Of course." McGonagall replied. "On the seventh floor, a tower has been prepared for both families with a connecting door in between them. There is also a passage in both towers that lead to separate areas of Hogsmede. The one in Weasley Tower leads to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and the one in Potter Tower leads to the Three Broomsticks. There is also an emergency escape passage in both towers that leads to the Shrieking Shack. Both Towers are portrait guarded. Sir Cadogan guards Weasley Tower, and a painting of Fawkes the Phoenix guards Potter Tower. Once you have decided on a password, inform the painting and that will become your set password, Sir Cadogan has sworn not to change it. To change the password say 'Babbitty Rabbitty' three times, then say the new password three times. Each tower contains; four bathrooms, five bedrooms, two living areas and a dining room, though you are welcome to have meals in the Great Hall. Seven paid House Elves have been assigned to look after your towers, including Hattie in Potter Tower, and Wacky in Weasley Tower. Hugo and Lily are welcome to attend Albus, Rose, and James's classes, however are not allowed to attend Molly's, as they are too young for Sixth Year curriculum. They are invited to explore the castle at their leisure, and Gryffindor's new password is 'Custard Tart', should any of you wish to enter the Common Room. Now, onto jobs. Harry, Professor Thomas has demanded that he be your assistant for DADA, not the other way around, should you take his subject. Professor Flitwick has offered that Hermione be his assistant. Ron, you have been invited assist Professor Longbottom in Herbology, and Madam Hooch has asked that Ginny will assist in flying. Does that suit you all?"

They agreed and McGonagall wrote four notes and transfigured them into birds, sending them to their recipients before announcing that the Towers should've shown up on the Marauders Map by now, and that they should locate them, set passwords, and settle in. Albus, Rose, and James were told to return to class; they would be able to see the towers after dinner, she would make sure that they would not get in trouble if they encountered a member of staff on their way back to the Common Room.

The bell rang for the end of lunch just as they entered the entrance hall. Bidding the rest of the family goodbye, Albus and Rose walked down the marble staircase to the Dungeons for Double Potions.

After Potions, They headed to the Great Hall where they found that the Potters and Weasley's (including Lily and Hugo) were seated at the staff table.

Once everyone was seated, McGonagall stood up.

"Good evening everyone. As you may have-"

"Oi, Albino Ferret Jr. and co! Pay attention to McGonagall! 5 points from Slytherin!" Uncle Ron roared furiously. Scorpius Malfoy blushed and turned to look at McGonagall. Rose hid her face in her hands.

"Quirrell!" A deep voice shouted from the back of the hall. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Echoed through the hall as at least 20 hooded figures with skull like masks on, appeared. Shouts of "Immobulus Maxima!" filled the hall, and Albus felt himself freeze. He could only watch in horror as staff and his mother, father aunt and uncle dueled the Death Eaters. Staring around the hall, Albus noticed several black hairs floating above the heads of the students. His mark burned and he closed his eyes, fighting the vision. He heard a shout, more cracks, a large bang, and then silence. He opened his eyes.

Professor McGonagall was standing on the staff table, a small stream of smoke coming from her wad tip.

"Who said that name?!" She screeched. "Who said it?!"

Silence.

"Very well. Rest assured coward, you will be caught. Potters and Weasley's, please remain behind. The rest of the hall, you are dismissed."

The school filed out, talking loudly about what had occurred. Albus, Rose and James approached the staff table. Once the stragglers had left, McGonagall climbed down from the table, and turned to face them.

"I assume they were your hairs Potter?" She said grimly. Harry nodded.

"The school will need better protection. I will speak with Kingsley. In the meantime, please, go to your towers."

As they climbed the Marble staircase, Albus could tell, they were thinking the same thing. "Three Horcruxes down, four to go."

**A/N: Please review!**


	13. Chapter 11 The Clue

Chapter 11

He was standing in what he thought of as 'The Cauldron Room', the small, dirty room that he was in during his first vision. He watched as the hooded man pulled a wand from his robes. It was unlike any wand Albus had ever seen. All the wands he had seen had been either brown, dark red, or black. But this one was white. He judged it to be around thirteen and a half inches, and, (since Aunt Hermione had taught them how to recognize different types of tree woods after his father had made her what was supposed to be an oak tankard out of Willow) he knew it was made of Yew. Evil seemed to radiate from it, he felt a shiver pass through him as the man lifted the wand and a fire lit beneath the cauldron in the centre of the room. The man approached the cauldron and slid a vial with a serpents head for a stopper, from his robes. The liquid inside was a smoky pale grey. As it swirled around, flashes of black appeared as though they grey was protecting something deep dark, and dangerous within. The man opened the vial and poured the liquid inside. Albus's mark seared and he felt something touch his arm. He jumped and spun around, relaxing instantly as he saw his father behind him. He opened his mouth to ask how his father got here, but closed it again as harry put a finger to his lips, his face grim. Harry pointed over Albus's shoulder, and Albus turned his attention back to the cauldron.

The man had begun his chant once more, "May Lord Voldemort begin to rise again, and with him will rise the Dark Order, greater and more powerful than ever before." He chanted faster as he placed two ingredients into the cauldron; several black hairs and some royal blue and silver powder. The grey liquid turned black, and a thick dark smoke in the form of an enormous snake hovered above the cauldron. Albus's eyes travelled up the snake, he froze as he saw the face. It was human. Barely. It was pale and hairless with red eyes with cat like slits for pupils. It spoke.

"Harry and Albus Potter. I welcome you to halfway through my re-rebirth. As you can see I have regained some spiritual form. I have been waiting for this moment for nineteen years. I lulled you into a false sense of security. I allowed you to think me gone. I will never truly demise. Let it be said that Lord Voldemort is fair. Let it be said that Lord Voldemort is reasonable. I will give you a clue. Just one clue to the identity of my most my loyal, my most faithful follower. The one who has given me this form. Harry and Albus Potter, your clue is this: The one who has hated and loved more than any other, risked their life to save another. That is all."

The mouth curved into a thin, humorless, evil, smile, and everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: HUGE thank you to everyone who is reading this story. It has gained 1,970 views. Please review! **


	14. Chapter 12 Powerful Emotions

**Chapter 12**

"Harry! Albus!"

Albus jumped violently and opened his eyes. He was lying on the marble staircase, shaking. His father lay beside him, his face pale. "Dumbledore." Harry said. Uncle Ron muttered something and Albus felt himself lift into the air. He closed his eyes, allowing the smooth swaying of his body soothe him as he floated through the air. When he reopened them, he found he was sitting in a very comfortable, rather squishy armchair, near a fire. Looking around, he saw he was back in McGonagall's office. His father sat beside him in a similar chair, staring open mouthed at McGonagall's desk.

"Shut your mouth Potter, or you'll swallow a fly and choke, and I'm sure _no-one_ wants that." Said a familiar, sneering voice. Albus turned and saw Professor Snape siting behind McGonagall's desk. Glancing up at Snape's portrait, Albus saw McGonagall sitting in his green armchair.

"How are you here? You're dead." Uncle Ron asked. For the first time, Albus noticed his family were seated to the left of him, just out of his line of vision.

"Tactless as usual, Weasley. Fortunately, I will only have to be in your sad, insignificant presence until right about…now."

Professor Snape flicked is wand, vanished and appeared back in his portrait, McGonagall vanished and appeared in Professor Dumbledore's portrait and Dumbledore appeared behind the desk.

"Umm… Sir?" Aunt Hermione asked. "How is this possible?"

Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "Well, being me, I have privileges. As I knew that it was inevitable that I would pass way during the 1996-1997 school year, I set about devising a spell that would allow myself, or any of the deceased headmasters or headmistresses to return to physical form. There are restrictions, however. The current headmaster or mistress would have to switch positions with the deceased head, and in order for a deceased head to regain physical form, the current headmaster or mistress will have to switch positions with each deceased head whose portrait is _before_ the head that actually wants to regain physical form. For example, as I want to regain physical form, Headmistress McGonagall, has to switch with Professor Snape for half an hour, then with myself for the amount of time I wish to be in physical form. Each deceased head has to remain in physical form for at least half an hour, before they can return to their portraits. Finally, the deceased head in physical form is confined to the heads office, and the current headmaster or mistress can attend meals, meetings and any classes, but in, as muggles say, projection form. Wizards think of it as being a coloured ghost."

"Wow." Ginny breathed. "That is some incredible magic."

"Thank you," Dumbledore replied smiling, "Now I presume there was a reason, you came back to this office a mere five minutes after you left it for your towers?"

"Yes sir," Aunt Hermione responded, "We were climbing the marble staircase when suddenly Albus fell. We thought he'd tripped, but he didn't get up. Once we realised that he was having a vision, the kids tried to wake him. Harry,-Aunt Hermione glared at him- decided to go into Voldemort's mind, to see if he could help Albus. Soon after, he collapsed too. they were out for about two minutes, and when they woke up Harry said 'Dumbledore', so we came back."

"I see." Dumbledore replied thoughtfully. "Albus, could you tell us please, what happened in the vision?"

Albus told the tale, interrupted by various gasped of horror from the other occupants of the room. "Then Voldemort said,'I will give you a clue. Just one clue to the identity of my most my loyal, my most faithful follower. The one who has given me this form. Harry and Albus Potter, your clue is this: The one who has hated and loved more than any other, risked their life to save another. That is all.' then he smiled, everything went black, and we woke up." He finished.

"The one who has hated and loved more than any other, risked their life to save another." Dumbledore repeated, a far away expression on his face. "How very interesting."

"How, sir?" Lily asked.

"Well, Miss Potter, that clue _could_ apply to anyone in the world. At some point in their lives every single person has experienced love and hate. We are looking for someone who has hated and loved more than the average human being. A person whose compassion is to be admired, a person who is to be cowered from, by all except the bravest of the brave, when they are angry. We know that they are male. Who knows what we will learn next? Think on it. Inform myself or Headmistress McGonagall of any possibilities the moment you think of them. You know the password. Stay safe, and repeat none of this. You never know who could be a spy. Goodnight."

They left the office, returned to their towers, and went to bed.

**A/N: Please review!**


	15. Chapter 13 The Idea

**Chapter 13**

The next morning, students and teachers alike gasped at McGonagall's ghostly appearance. "Settle down, it's nothing to worry about, just an experiment." McGonagall said snappishly, standing up to address the hall. "Please continue with your breakfasts."

The atmosphere within Hogwarts was tense. Fifth to seventh years and teachers frog marched the younger students from class to class and watched them like hawks in the Great Hall. Albus noticed several figures clad in the black uniform of Aurors patrolling the grounds and some of the more isolated parts of the castle.

Oliver had begged them to tell him what had happened over the past few days, and after checking with Dumbledore, they told him everything. Instead of the 'eyes as wide as dinner plates' reaction they were expecting, at the end of their tale Oliver was quiet, his face was serious as he gazed into the fire. After a while, he asked "Dumbledore's Pensieve, is it still kept in the Heads office?"

Albus and Rose looked at each other, confused. "I think so," Rose replied, "Why?"

"Well, you're looking for someone with incredibly strong emotions, someone whose feelings had a big influence over their actions, and their actions would've caused some of the stuff that happened 19 years ago, during the war. So I was thinking, if you all went through Harry, Ron, and Hermione's memories of the war, you might find out something that could help."

"That's a great idea! Come on, let's go ask if we can." Albus said, excitedly. He and Rose got up, but Oliver remained seated. "What's up, aren't you coming?" Albus asked.

"Well, I would like to come," Oliver replied, "But isn't this a family thing?"

"It was your idea. You have a right to see if it works. Plus we'd tell you it all anyway, and you are part of the family." Rose replied. Albus nodded.

"Thanks guys." Oliver said, smiling.

"Don't mention it." Albus replied, smiling back. "Now can we _please_ get going, It's near curfew."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your wig on!" Rose muttered.

"I heard that."

They arrived at the heads office and Oliver shyly told Dumbledore his idea. Dumbledore approved, and summoned everyone to his office. Steve came with James, as James had told Steve everything.

Dumbledore explained the plan, and it was quickly agreed to. Aunt Hermione volunteered her memories first. She stood still, concentration etched in her face, as Dumbledore touched her temple with his wand and withdrew a long strand of silver memories from her head. The moment the strand left her head, her expression cleared, and Dumbledore placed the memory strand into the Pensieve, and handed round quills and parchment for note taking. Then they lined up, and one by one, entered the Pensive.

**A/N: The next chapter will be Hermione's memories. Please review! :)**


	16. Chapter 14 Memories Part 1

**A/N: The memories will be made from scenes from HP & DH part 2. I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 14**

Albus was the last to land in his Aunt's memory. He landed on a squishy red recliner armchair beside James. A bowl of popcorn appeared beside him. He stared around, amazed. He had never been inside a memory before, but he had read one of his aunts numerous textbooks about magical history and how Magical Researchers had gone into the memories of cave wizards to find out how they used to live. In the book, the author had described being in a memory like actually attending the event. Not sitting in what appeared to be a Muggle Gold Class Cinema. Not that that was a bad thing. The enormous 3-D screen showed a small, dirty pub. Albus could see a younger looking Harry and Uncle Ron, and a wizened wizard who resembled Dumbledore, but not Aunt Hermione. He noticed everyone else looking around confusedly. They all jumped as Dumbledore's voice echoed from above. "You may have noticed that Hermione cannot be seen. That is because the memory you are in is in her point of view. You will see what she saw, and only what she saw. It will be the same with Harry and Ron's memories. Enjoy, and stay focused."

Everyone made various movements and noises of comprehension, before all attention was turned to their immediate surroundings. The adults smiled as a younger looking Professor Longbottom emerged from behind a portrait of a young girl. They 'walked' through the tunnel and listened to Professor Longbottom explain what Hogwarts was like under the reign of the Carrows, whoever they were. "This is weird." Rose said from James' other side. "Though, the surround sound is amazing."

"What's-"James began, but he was shushed by the adults. The memory skipped to the Great Hall, amid a duel between Snape and McGonagall. Cheers erupted from both the memory viewers and the students within the memory as Snape finished an impressive aerobics routine and jumped out the window. The scene swapped to a grimy stone cave they watched as Aunt Hermione's arm stabbed Hufflepuff's cup with a fang from the skeleton of The Basilisk. The scene switched to a room filled with stacks and piles of various odds and ends. They saved a younger looking Mr. Malfoy, and a tall, dark skinned young man with slanting eyes from Fiendfyre. "Don't feel sorry for him." Uncle Ron snapped, as Mr. Malfoy's second companion, a muscular man, fell into the flames. "That's Goyle. Tried to kill us all, the twit." Harry the Diadem of Ravenclaw with the Basilisk fang and Uncle Ron kicked it into the Fiendfyre. They watched as Harry sunk deeply into Voldemort's mind, and all of the next generation's eyes were as wide as galleons as the scene before them turned into the battle in the entrance courtyard. Never before had they seen the horrors of battle. They listened to Voldemort explain his theory about the Elder Wand to Snape from outside the boathouse, gasping when a black silhouette hit the misty glass panes that formed the wall of the boathouse. Lily screamed slightly when the wall was suddenly spattered with a deep red liquid.

Voldemort's voice echoed around the room, announcing a one hour ceasefire. The scene changed to the great hall, which was serving as the infirmary for the good. The scene skipped again. They were on the Grand Staircase, hearing Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron trying to convince Harry not to go to Voldemort. The scene switched. They were in the Entrance watched Voldemort lead his army across the bridge towards them. An older looking Ozzo was walking just behind Voldemort, carrying Harry.

"HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!" Voldemort yelled at his Death Eaters

"Yes!" They replied, nodding as if congratulating a small child.

"NYEAAAA-HE-HEEEEH!" Voldemort laughed. Steve, Hugo and James looked strained for a minute, not quite daring to laugh under the stern gaze of the adults. Then Steve snorted slightly and it set them all off. Dumbledore had to pause the memory stream until they calmed down.

Oliver and Aunt Hermione seemed to be competing over who could make the most notes. They barely glanced up as they scribbled, hunched over their parchments like a polar bear protecting its young. Everyone else's parchment had the occasional point in random spots. Looking over, Albus saw James had drawn an animation of each member of the Slytherin Quidditch team being individually devoured by a Welsh Green. Grinning, Albus turned his attention back to the screen.

The stream played. They watched as Mr. Malfoy re-joined the dark side from the light, and saw a fleeting glimpse of the Malfoy's fleeing that battle. Harry rolled onto the ground and fired a curse at Nagini. They gasped as Professor Longbottom beheaded Nagini and the adults sighed almost wistfully as Voldemort was killed.

"If only he stayed that way." Harry breathed. The other adults nodded.

After a quick scene with an explanation as to why the Elder Wand failed to work for Voldemort, the memory ended. They rose back into reality and Albus felt a niggling pain in the back of his head. He tried to push against it, to see what it was but he just, _just _couldn't. He saw his father frowning slightly too. Harry leaned over and said something in to Dumbledore quietly. The Headmaster looked puzzled, but shook his head slightly.

"What's up?" Ginny asked, catching the exchange.

"Well, I've got this kind of fuzzy pain in my scar, but I can't get to Voldemort's emotions or anything. Judging by his expression, I'd say Al has the same problem." Albus nodded. "I was wondering what, if anything, we could do."

"I cannot see what we can." Dumbledore said. "Let us leave it for now, and proceed with our task."

The parchments were collected and fresh sheets and ink were handed out. Uncle Ron's memories were roughly the same as Aunt Hermione's, give or take a few scenes. They emerged from the memory stream each piece of parchment containing more notes than the first as they were now familiar with the scene, so they paid more attention to the people rather than the war.

Having risen back to reality once more and gaining new ink and parchment, they entered the final and perhaps more detailed memory. Harry's.

**A/N: Please review! :) **


	17. Chapter 15 Memories Part 2

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. 5****th**** chapter was adjusted to fit this one.**

**Chapter 15**

The last person, Lily, landed just as the memory stream began to play. Once again they watched as Professor Longbottom came through Ariana's portrait. They saw Headmaster Snape give a speech about Harry being sighted in Hogsmede and asking anyone who knew anything about Harry's whereabouts to step forward. The next generation, along with the students in the memory, gasped as Harry stepped out of the crowd and the Order came through the great double doors. The scene switched to a room where a ghost that was introduced as Helena Ravenclaw cryptically told Harry the location of her mother's Diadem. The room changed to the outside of the boathouse where once again they heard Voldemort's theory about the Elder Wand. They saw Snape pass on his last memories. All eyes stung as Snape spoke his final words; "You have your mother's eyes" and died.

They watched as Harry poured the memories into the pensive and placed his head into the bowl. The scene whirled. They saw Snape introduce Lily to the Magical World, listened to them talk about Petunia, watched Lily's sorting, were introduced to James, saw the couple married, heard the Prophecy, saw Voldemort returning. They gaped as Snape begged Dumbledore to allow him to protect the Potters. Again, all eyes stung as they watched Voldemort kill Lily, they got a glimpse of Pettigrew, and Voldemort killing someone before the scene transformed into Dumbledore's office. They watched Harry's sorting and heard Snape's hatred of James. They saw Dumbledore with a blackened hand, and learned that Mr. Malfoy was supposed to kill him, but Snape did instead. They saw Snape enter the Potter's home, they watched in awe as Snape revealed his love for Lily to Dumbledore and saw Snape hugging Lily's body. Eyes were wide as Dumbledore told Snape about the Horcrux within Harry, and how Voldemort needed to kill Harry in order to destroy it. They saw Harry in a forest looking at a doe patronus, and learned the extent that Snape loved Lily.

The scene changed. Harry and Voldemort were standing on a bridge.

"Why do you live?" Voldemort asked, gripping Harry's face.

"Because I have something to live for." Harry replied.

The scene switched. Harry and Voldemort were on their knees dueling. It was good vs. evil, wand vs. master, red vs. green. They watched as Harry defeated Voldemort, once again. The scene went black.

The family rose upwards into reality. They all handed over their parchments, and Dumbledore began muttering waving his wand around the now large pile of notes muttering spells of revelation and identification. The parchments began to move around organizing each other and connecting various points with highlights.

Albus's head pricked. Getting sick of the annoying feeling, Albus mentally pushed against the seemingly solid wall in his mind as hard as he could. He felt it shake slightly. Redoubling his efforts, he heard an enormous crack that echoed through his head as the 'wall' snapped in two. An image of a small golden cup flashed briefly in his mind before his head was filled with rage. Quickly conjuring up a shield, Albus tuned back in to his immediate surroundings. Harry was pale, breathing deeply, "He's furious." Harry said, conjuring up a glass and filling it with water as he spoke. As he gulped it down, the colour returned to his cheeks.

"Albus Severus, could you tell us, please, what just occurred in your mind?" McGonagall called down from Dumbledore's portrait. Albus did so. Once he finished, Professor Dumbledore turned from the parchments to face them, his expression thoughtful.

"I believe that all this time, Voldemort's Helper has been taunting us. He has shown us exactly what he has been doing, parading the fact that we have not prevented him. I suspect that Voldemort instructed him to use Occlumency against us, while still allowing Harry and Albus to fell _something_. He would like us known that they are doing something, but not knowing what it is. Albus's intrusion means that we know they are either stealing or have stolen Hufflepuff's Cup. That would have angered him greatly."

Dumbledore rose, conjured a Phoenix patronus and said; "Start. Check on Cup, increase protection, please report back. End. Kingsley Shacklebolt." The bird nodded and vanished.

The next day was Saturday. The first Quidditch match of the season. It would've been Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, but the Hufflepuff seeker and reserve seeker had been injured in a potions incident, so the first match was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, what would've been the second game. The whole school trooped down to the Pitch and sat down in the stands, anticipation high in the air. Every member of Hogwarts from the eldest staff member to the youngest first year was ready for the match to begin.

**A/N: Please review! :)**


	18. Chapter 16 The Quidditch Match

**Chapter 16**

_The whole school trooped down to the Pitch and sat down in the stands, anticipation high in the air. Every member of Hogwarts from the eldest staff member to the youngest first year was ready for the match to begin._

Steve Jordan was commentating, a large megaphone in his hand. Professor McGonagall, who had returned to human form, sat next to him, wearing a Hogwarts scarf and a grimace.

"'WASSUP HOGWARTS?! I AM YOUR COMMENTATOR, THE DASHING, INTELLIGENT, HILARIOUS, STEVE JORDAN AND WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE SEASON, GRYFFINDOR VS SLIMYTHINGS!"

"_Slytherin_, Jordan."

"SORRY, HEADMISSTRESS, SLIP OF THE TOUNGE. YOU KNOW HOW IT IS, WHEN YOU'VE LOATHED A HOUSE FROM BIRTH."

"Now, who taught you to hate Slytherin, was it your father, I wonder?"

"YES HEADMISTRESS, MY FATHER. INTERNATIONLY FAMOUS .W.W.N. HOST LEE JORDAN."

"I was being sarcastic!"

"NO, NO, HEADMISTRESS, NO NEED TO APOLOGISE. OLD AGE SIMPLY CREEPS UP ON YOU, YOU KNOW, AND YOU TEND TO FORGET THINGS. IT IS NO FAULT OF YOURS."

"Just introduce the players."

"OKEY-DOKEY, HEADMISTRESS! NOW HOGWARTS, AS YOU KNOW, DUE TO AN UNFORTUNATE POTIONS INCIDENT INVOLVING, ACCORDING TO LORCAN SCAMANDER, A CURE FOR HICCUPS, A WEASLEY'S WIZARD WHEZZES WIZ BANG FIREWORK AND A COUPLE OF NARGLES, THE HUFFLEPUFF SEEKER AND RESERVE SEEKER ARE IN THE HOSPITAL WING HICCUPING FIREWORKS! WE WISH THEM A SPEEDY RECOVERY, HOWEVER, THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM HAS HAD TO FOREFIT, AND SO SLYTHRIN WILL BE PLAYING INSTEAD!"

"_The players_ Jordan!"

"KEEP YOU HAIR ON HEADMISTRESS!"

"Detention!"

"NOW INTRODUCING… THE ULTRA MEGA AWESOME GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM! IN THE ORDER OF KEEPER, CHASER, CHASER, CHASER, BEATER, BEATER, SEEKER IT IS… WOOD, ERNEST, HOWARD, WEASLEY, WEASLEY, WEASLEY, AAAANNNDDD POTTER!

A great roar rose from the red and gold half of the stadium. Professor Longbottom, clad entirely in red and gold, jumped to his feet roaring.

"NOW THE MOMENT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WAITING FOR … THE ULTRA MEGA LAME SLIMYTHINGS QUIDDITCH TEAM!"

"Slytherin!"

"RIGHT YOU ARE HEADMISTRESS! ALSO IN THE ORDER OF KEEPER, CHASER, CHASER, CHASER, BEATER, BEATER, SEEKER IT IS… PAULS, LOCKY, WEST, NOTT, GAUGHT, VAULT, AND AT LONG, LONG, LAST EVERY!"

A loud hiss rose from the green and sliver half of the stadium. Professor Zabini, dressed in green and silver, stood up, hissing the loudest.

"MADAM HOOCH HAS RELEASED THE BALLS, THE GAME HAS BEGUN! LOCKY HAS THE QUAFFLE, IT'S SLIMY IN POSSESSION…"

"Slythe- Oh I give up!"

"THAT'S GREAT HEADMISTRESS! AFTER A SPECTACULAR TACKLE BY LOUIS WEASLEY ITS GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESSION! WEASLEY DODGES A BUDGER, PASSESS TO DYLAN ERNEST, ERNEST SAVED FROM A BLUDGER BY ROXANNE WEASLEY, AND ERNEST LOBS TO FRANCES HOWARD, HOWARD IS TACKLED BY WEST, SLIMY IN POSESSION. WEST HIT BY EXCELLENT BLUGDER FROM FRED WEASLEY, WHO IS LIVING UP TO HIS NAMESAKE, WEST DROPPES QUAFFLE, CAUGHT BY WEASLEY AND ITS GRYFFINDOR IN POSESSION!"

On the match went, the Quaffle being passed from chaser to chaser, team to team. The beaters on both teams wacked the two Bludgers at the Chasers on the opposing team as though their lives depended on it.

"WEASLEY IS TEARING UP THE PITCH TOWARDS THE GOAL HOOPS! HE PASSES TO HOWARD WHO FLINGS IT BACK TO WEASLEY, WEASLEY SHOOTS…HE SCORES! LOUIS WEASLEY HAS SHOOT THE FIRST GOAL OF THE MATCH! 10-0 TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor supporters cheered and clapped. Everyone jumped at the sound of a roaring Lion. Turning around Albus saw Madam Scamander had entered the stands. She wore a hat in the shape of a Lions head. She sat down in between Rose and Professor Longbottom, smiling calmly.

"Hello, everyone," She said, her voice dreamy. "The Hufflepuff's are quite alright now-and I've had a stern word with the Nargles about their behavior- so I've decided to join you! Do you like my hat?" She tapped it with her wand just as Louis completed his lap of honour.

"Er… Yeah it's lovely." Rose replied. The matron smiled at her before turning her attention to the game.

"SLIMY IN POSESSION, NOTT POWERING UP THE PITCH, DODGING BLUDERS AND CHASERS HE SHOOTS- COME ON WOOD!- WOOD SAVES! 10 ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR IN-"

"FOUL!" The Slytherin supporters roared standing up as one. Albus saw Professor Zabini pointing at Fred, his expression furious, Albus could see flecks of spit flying from his mouth as he hollered.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle. She flew over to Steve and spoke to him.

"IT SEEMS THAT BEATER FRED WEASLEY HAS COMMITTED ONE OF THE MORE RECENTLY ADDED QUIDDITCH FOULS." Steve announced. "THE USE OF A WEASLEY WIZARD WHEEZES PRODUCT ANY FLYER. FRED WEASLEY HAS, IT SEEMS, GIVEN SLYTHERIN CHASER WEST A TON-TOUNGE TOFFEE."

Albus glanced at West. The end of his tongue was at his feet.

Steve continued, "WHY ON EARTH DID YOU DO THAT FRED? NO, NO, DON'T TELL ME, I'LL GUESS. HE ASKED OUT MARY ADAMS?" Fred nodded. "YEAH, I THOUGHT SO. YOU SHOULD HANG OUT WITH US MORE, MATE. ANYWAY, HEADMISTRESS MCGONAGALL SAYS YOU HAVE DETENTION, AND IT'S A FREE GOAL FOR SLYTHERIN. NOTT TAKES IT…COME ON WOOD!"

There was loud hissing and cheering from the Slytherin end. Nott had scored.

"10 ALL. IT'S GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESSION…"

The game continued, getting more violent with every goal scored.

"IT'S 290-150 TO SLIMYTHINGS. GRYFFINDOR NEEDS THE SNITCH TO WIN. SLIMY IN POSSESSION- WHATS THIS? IT APPEARS THAT EVERY HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!"

All eyes swiveled towards the Slytherin seeker. He was, chasing after the small, glimmering golden ball with silver wings. James, was speeding in towards the snitch on the other side of the Pitch. The snitched paused beside the Slytherin goal hoops. It was a race to see who would get there first.

"EVERY, EVERY, EVERY, EVERY, EVERY…" The Slytherins chanted.

"POTTER, POTTER, POTTER, POTTER, POTTER…" The Gryffindor's chanted. Theirs was much louder as Steve was chanting through the megaphone.

There was a sickening _CLANG! _As one seeker collided with a goal post and hit the ground with a thump. The other seeker rose high into the air, the Snitch tightly in his hand. There was a great roar from one side of the crowd and Madam Hooch's whistle blew, signifying the end of the game. The celebrating side of the crowd raced onto the pitch and surrounded their team, just as their seeker landed. The seeker was hoisted onto the shoulders of his team. As they entered the castle, the cheers of the Gryffindor's could be heard from the Chamber of Secrets to the Astronomy Tower.

**A/N: Please review! :)**


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